Petals, Ashes, and Spirit Bombs: Hogwarts
by Sarjhi
Summary: This story is previously by Saint Sky, and I took over. Hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter One and Two

Chapter One: Dumbledore' Discovery

Dumbledore was a rather queer man. There were even some that thought his oddity was a kind of mental issue. It wasn't. Albus Dumbledore was quite right in the upper story, thank you very much. Well…truth is told, the man himself was actually wondering about his mental stableness as he read through a letter.

The letter looked as normal as any other letter he had received during his long lifespan. However, it was the letter's contents which worried him. It had been delivered along with the rest of his mail by a Hogwarts owl, and there had been no sender or return address marked on it.

The letter, written in a flourishing, official looking writing, went something along the lines of this;

_Deepest regards to Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry;_

_We have been informed that one Harry James Potter, son of the late Lily and James Potter, has been a student at your honored wizarding school for the past six years. As his closest current relations, Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Dursley, have been deemed unfit to have Mr. Potter under their care, we are requesting that all legal and guardianship rights concerning Mr. Potter to be turned over to his next closest of kin, Mr. Youko Kurama. As the Dursleys have been proven to be verbally and occasionally physically abusive towards Mr. Potter, we will be forced to take action if our requests are not complied with. We are asking you to meet us personally on Thursday, August 1__st__, at the pub of the Leaky Cauldron, located in London. We shall meet you there at 6:00 P.M._

_Sincerely,_

_Lord Enma Jr._

_Spirit World Co-Ruler, Son of King Enma Sr., Sponsor of the Reikai Tantei_

There was something like a stamp underneath. Dumbledore vaguely recognized it as one of those Asian seals which people used instead of signatures.

Dumbledore knew it would be unwise to not show up at the Leaky Cauldron on the affixed date, when he did not even know who had actually sent this letter. Even though he had read through this 'Enma Jr.'s' three titles very carefully several times, all the man could come up with was the fact that Enma Jr. was a prince of some sort, being the son of a 'King Enma Sr.' That, and Enma Jr. was the prince of some Asian country, considering the seal at the bottom. He had no clue where this 'Spirit World' was.

What astounded him most was the fact that Harry had relations, other than the horrible muggles on his mother's side. There was not even a clear note as to who this 'Youko Kurama' was. How was Dumbledore supposed to decide if this was a ruse or not if they didn't even clearly elaborate on who they were? A thought struck him. What if this was a ploy set up by Voldemort? He immediately banished that thought. Lord Voldemort would hardly be this indiscreet. This seemed more like a practical joke that some deadly scheme to get Harry in Voldemort's grasp.

So Dumbledore decided. He would go along with this. If it turned out to be true…then it was all it better.

It was two days after the letter's coming that Dumbledore found himself sitting at a table in the Leaky Cauldron, waiting for Enma Jr. It was 5:54, six minutes before the exact time of meeting. Dumbledore liked to be a bit early most of the time, mainly because he found it rude to have to keep people waiting…and some of the ministry affiliates he often had meetings with had nasty tempers.

Sipping his tea quietly, (it was one of the few 'normal' things the Leaky Cauldron served) Dumbledore continued to glance around, focusing most of his attention on the pub entrance. When this Enma Jr. came, he wanted to be able to greet him right away.

"If you were planning on greeting us right off, I'm afraid you're rather late. Hello, Professor Dumbledore."

The new voice snapped Dumbledore's attention back to the once unoccupied seat across from him. It was most definitely occupied now. There was a young man sitting across from him, smiling amusedly.

The young man was, indeed, extremely attractive. Even Dumbledore could tell the girls would be all over him. He was relatively tall, and what could be seen of his arms past his half rolled up sleeves showed he was muscular, but he had more of a swimmer's build that of a…Goyle build. Dumbledore pictured that particular student in his mind and immediately crossed him back out. It wasn't a good idea to compare this young man to Goyle.

The young man's eyes were a deep bottle green, a shade darker than Harry's. They reminded him of Lily's eyes, but only to a point. They were rimmed with a light golden colour, and small flecks of gold could be seen here and there in his eyes as well. There was something deadly and mysterious about his eyes. Dumbledore couldn't bear to stare into them for long, and so moved onto the rest of his assessment. The young man's hair was probably the most peculiar thing about him. Dumbledore couldn't tell if it was a shade of rose red or a silvery colour. There were random streaks of the two colours everywhere, and the young man's roots yielded nothing. Dumbledore settled on thinking that his hair was actually silver, since there seemed to be more of that colour. The young man's hair was cut short, but his bangs hovered above his eyes, seemingly a bit longer than the rest of his hair.

For appearances, that was basically all that Dumbledore could take in, minus the fact that the young man was wearing a plain white muggle, button up shirt and a pair of black pants.

Hurriedly regaining his composure, Dumbledore smiled. "Ah…hello. Who would you be?" Somehow, the title 'Enma Jr.' didn't seem to fit this particular young man well, and so he deemed it safest to ask.

"I am…" The young man seemed to be considering something for a moment. "I am Youko Kurama, though Kurama will do. Pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm the one that actually sent that letter. I merely enlisted the help of Koenma. You would know him as Lord Enma Jr."

Catching onto the joke immediately, Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes…Koenma does sound much simpler than Enma Jr. If you are such close friends with this Lord Enma Jr., then am I correct to presume you are some sort of nobility?"

Kurama's lips twitched. "A Lord, actually, thought not of the same…country…as Koenma."

Making a mental note of that, Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Getting down to business…in the letter, it stated you are the next closest of kin to Harry after the Dursleys?"

"The next closest of kin who I think would treat him well," corrected Kurama calmly.

"How is it that I have not heard of this earlier? Or why have you not approached me before now?" Dumbledore asked suspiciously.

"You, Headmaster, were not informed of it mainly because I found no need to inform you of it. Harry had relatives he could live with, and therefore did not need me." Kurama stated. "However, due to the death of his godfather at the end last year, and the widely broadcasted return of 'Lord Voldemort', I found it necessary to step in. I have been watching him for a great while now, and I am…how can I put this…sick of how his aunt and uncle are treating him. I should have acted back when Lord Voldemort first arose, in his fourth year at your school, or even when he had his second near death encounter in his first year, but I was otherwise…occupied."

"Mister…Kurama…you want to become Harry's guardian, correct?" Dumbledore received a curt nod in response. He continued. "Then you are going to tell me exactly what you are to Harry if I am to allow it."

"Of course," said Kurama politely. "I am…his uncle, of sorts."

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed behind his spectacles. "I was not aware of Lily having a younger brother."

Kurama seemed surprised. "Ah? What makes you think I am related to him on his mother's side?"

"Your eyes…"

"Yes, they are green like Lily Evans'. However, that does not mean I am his mother's younger brother. In fact, I am related to Harry on his father's side. I ask you not to ask for the specifics, I have no clue how many times removed I am." Kurama said, making a face.

"Then it all becomes more complicated. You see, Mr. Kurama, I have placed a…"

"…blood protection, yes." Kurama interrupted. "I am aware. However, the blood protection breaks on Harry's seventeenth birthday, and he is defenseless from there. I would very much prefer to take him in now and not have to bother about it next year. That way, he is protected for as long as he remains under my roof."

Dumbledore's lips tightened. "I apologize for any rudeness on my part, but you are related on James' side. Presuming that I believe you are a relation, and I do not at the moment, I must inform you. The blood protection does not work with anyone not on his mother's side."

At that, Kurama let out a laugh. Dumbledore, taken aback by the abnormally sharp canines Kurama had, stared. Chuckling quietly, Kurama responded. "That is not a problem. Believe me; Harry will be well protected while he is with me. Even better than with your blood protection in place. In fact…" Kurama grew serious, "he will be better off than he was ever before."

"No ordinary wizard can…"

"Pardon, Professor Dumbledore, but did I not just tell you? Harry will be protected. That is all I can say. Even if," Kurama stressed that word, "Voldemort manages to get past my defenses; he would have me to deal with."

"Then I need proof you are related to Harry. In these dark times, I can not just recklessly give away wizardkind's last hope to someone I have just met. And there is the matter of the Dursleys and Harry agreeing to this." Dumbledore told Kurama. He was extremely reluctant to let Harry go. Who knew what this Kurama had planned?

Sighing with annoyance, Kurama reached into a shirt pocket and pulled out broken fragments of a wand. Dumbledore's eyes widened as Kurama placed them on the table, arranging them into two different piles.

"These are the remains of James' first wand. The one he foolishly managed to break into little bits in an encounter with Severus Snape." Kurama pointed at one pile. "These are the remains of James' second wand. The one that was destroyed by Voldemort. Don't ask how I got it. It'll only waste time." Kurama paused. "And this," He pulled out a wand from his pocket, "is my own wand."

It was a wand all right…just not made out of wood. It was made out of silver, of all things, with what looked like a jade handle. Dumbledore was fascinated.

"It was not, if you are wondering, made by Ollivanders. It is 13 inches, made out of a combination of silver, steel and reinforced jade. I have two cores. The first is a dark phoenix tail feather, which has been crystallized in phoenix tears. The second is one of my own hairs." Kurama seemed to think about it. "I suppose it would technically be three cores, including the tears."

Despite himself, Dumbledore was horrified. "That's suicidal!" He gasped. "Such a powerful…! Are you able to control it?"

"Would I carry it around if I could not, professor? Now, please observe." Kurama pointed his wand at the broken wand pieces on the table, and murmured something which Dumbledore recognized as a spell which would trace family members. The wand pieces glowed brightly. The idea of Kurama not being Harry's relation flew out the window.

"I see I was wrong to doubt you. You have just proved you are able to protect Harry and that you are his relation." Dumbledore sighed, recognizing Kurama's right with a nod. "So I will not object if you are wishing to take Harry in. However…Harry must agree first. And you have not yet told me of your living conditions. You are an impeccable English speaker, but I don't think you are from England."

Kurama tilted his head to the side. "You are correct. My original home is in Japan, though I have been…abroad for several years now. However, I am in the process of purchasing a home here in England. I thought Harry would like to stay where he lived for most of his life. Even if he refuses to live with me, I was thinking of giving it to him anyway…as a present."

Dropping the subject of money upon hearing that, Dumbledore nodded. He was satisfied Kurama didn't work for Voldemort; he didn't have the Dark Mark. Both of Kurama's forearms were in plain view. Dumbledore suspected Kurama had rolled up his sleeves so that the particular subject would not come up. Dumbledore also knew now that Kurama had enough money to support Harry with nothing lacking, and protection didn't seem to be too big of an issue anymore. So there was nothing else Dumbledore could object to. Besides, Kurama seemed fairly agreeable, and his distaste when speaking about Voldemort was obvious. As long as Harry was safe and happy, it was a plus in Dumbledore's book.

"Now…you do not have anymore questions?" Kurama asked, smiling amusedly.

"Actually…one more. If you were to die…who would take care of Harry?" Dumbledore asked, looking at Kurama straight in the eye. To his shock, Kurama laughed.

"If I did, then I'm sure my fiancée and friends would. Of course…I'm not going to die just yet. If that is the end of things, could we go speak to Harry now?" Kurama stood up.

"Of course…" What was that strange gleam in Kurama's eyes all about? What was so amusing?

Hiei, whom had been listening in on the entire thing, almost laughed out loud. He had been sitting at the other end of the pub, eating a strange type of wizarding cake and listening in with his enhanced demon hearing. The entire thing had been pretty much ridiculous. The things Kurama did sometimes…he was by far too nice. Why did he even have to bother taking in this 'Harry Potter'? He was even pretending to be a wizard for this Potter boy's sake.

There had been three points in the conversation which Hiei found hilarious. First off, the very thought of Harry not being safely protected while with Kurama. To not be safe while with a being who could destroy the Earth a hundred times over and still have enough energy left over to spar with Hiei on equal terms. Wow. With Kurama alone, it would've been safe. With Hiei there as well…it wasn't safe. It was IMPOSSIBLE to get within a HUNDRED METRES of Potter.

The second part had been…how the hell was Kurama supposed to be Harry's uncle? Harry Potter was related to Youko Kurama, not Shuuichi Minamino. (Ah, Shuuichi Minamino…officially, Minamino had disappeared at the age of 24, along with a certain Yusuke Urameshi. The disappearing act had been eighty years ago. So basically, Shuuichi Minamino was supposed to be a 104 year old grandpa, not the young man Dumbledore had met.) The thing was...Youko Kurama hadn't mated for a good 1, 600 years. Hardy har…So that basically meant Harry was a…great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great…oh, screw it, a grandchild. Not a nephew.

Finally…if Kurama were to die? Maybe in the past, that would have been a worry…but what? After becoming one of the top three strongest demons alive, (Hiei and Yusuke being the other two) it was not likely Kurama would just die. Having the Grim Reaper as a fiancée helped a bit, too.

Was life not a great big joke?

Allowing himself a smirk as Kurama and Dumbledore walked out of the pub, Hiei stood up and walked to the barkeeper.

"How much will it be for both my table and that table over there?" Hiei asked nodding towards the table Kurama and Dumbledore had previously been sitting at.

The barkeeper looked startled. "Come to think of it, Professor Dumbledore didn't pay as he left…ah well, if you're willing to do it, I'm fine with it." He named the price, and Hiei paid. In wizarding money, of course. He wasn't stupid enough to try yen.

Hiei thought it was fortunate that he had grown so much. People had used to think he was a child, and gods forbid that. No matter how much more patience he had for humans lately he still didn't tolerate imbecilic humans. Though he was kind of regretful that Kuwabara was dead…

All three of them…Hiei, Kurama, and Yusuke had changed. Despite his vow to be rid of Youko, Kurama had given up after his mother and stepfather had both passed away, and his stepbrother was a grown man. He had changed a great deal in appearance, becoming a strange combination between Youko and Shuuichi. His features still remained that of Shuuichi, but his personality favoured Youko much more, and his colouring was a mix between the two. He had also finally agreed to cut his hair. He was probably the one who had made the most changes. His increase in power was nothing to joke over either. The strangest thing about him was how he had fallen in love with Botan, and she with him. They had decided to marry. It was disturbing, to say the least. (To Hiei.)

Hiei had risen in power levels, just like Kurama. He found that he was on equal par with Kurama while sparring with hands and fists, but often got the better of him while fighting with their abilities. Of course, that was only when Kurama didn't use fire proof plants. Growing to around the same height as Kurama…perhaps a bit shorter…had done wonders for his temper, as well. When once, his temper had been about as short as he was, it seemed to have become a bit…longer…as Hiei grew. It was a joke amongst their friends, actually. A fairly common one which came up during reunions. However, Hiei was still Hiei, and Hiei bit people's heads off for commenting on his height. Hiei had actually managed to totally master the Dragon, and could use it without as much as a second thought now. It was something he often used to scare the crap out of Yusuke. His relationship with Kurama had improved a great bit, (considering they could both kill each other if they got really riled) and they were at the status of 'best friends for life'. Or so Yusuke put it. His little secret had been eventually figured out by Yukina. Holy crap, who had known the little ice apparition could be so fierce? She had slapped Hiei in the face, pummeled him in other areas for a while, and then sobbed all over his chest, telling him how glad she was and how much she had missed him. Hiei's expression had been a sight to behold indeed.

The ex-Spirit Detective was as goofy as always, though rather sad every time Kuwabara came up. If one even so much as mentioned Keiko…Genkai…or even Atsuko around him, they were in for a rough ride. His power levels had increased, but…due to his depression over several of his friends' deaths for a good twenty years, Hiei and Kurama had managed to get a bit more powerful than him. Just a bit. Yusuke, instead of using the 'Spirit Gun' anymore, used the 'Spirit Missile'. It was a huge wave of spirit energy which served exactly as a gigantic missile made out of spirit energy. Or demon energy, whichever one. The ex-detective had once delightedly announced that he was going to try out a 'Spirit Uranium Bomb'. That had earned several sweatdrops. Yusuke, somehow, had actually managed to fall in love with Yukina. What was more…Yukina had accepted his proposal.

Demon World had seen Hell reign that day in the form of Hiei and Yusuke trying to beat the living shit out of each other, Yukina yelling at them both to stop, while Jin, Touya, and Chuu laughed their asses off at the spectacle. Everything within forty kilometers status had been destroyed. It would have gone on for longer, too, if Kurama hadn't chosen that moment to get in the way and…well…he had tied both Hiei and Yusuke down with plants. Death plants, to be precise.

It was a somewhat unfortunate thing, but Demon World had once again split off into Three Kingdoms. After Yusuke, Hiei and Kurama rose to such powerful levels, most of the demons thought it would be pointless, since they would win every time. They HAD won every time, too…four times straight. First Yusuke had won then Hiei, Kurama, and then Hiei once more. So after that, the power had been split into three. It wasn't like before though, since all Three Kingdoms were…chummy with one another. Since their Lords were the closest of friends, why not them? Peace, of all things…peace was actually reigning in Demon World. When the more powerful demons weren't killing the weaker ones.

Hiei, thinking about such things, walked out of the pub. He was just in time to hear a 'pop', as Albus Dumbledore and Kurama both disapparated to, most likely, #4 Private Drive, where the Potter boy was. So Hiei decided to make his way there as well. He disappeared into the Makai. Being trusted by Koenma had its advantages. Such as free passage from one world to the next.

Kurama, leaving Hiei to pay for the tea and pasty Dumbledore had eaten, along with the cake Hiei had had, walked out with Dumbledore.

"I presume apparating would be a fine method of transport?" Dumbledore asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kurama merely nodded in reply. He had never apparated before…not when he had the Makai to go through instead, but he didn't mind apparating either. It was fairly easy; gathering up your energy and dumping it somewhere else. Kurama had been to where Harry 'lived' a few times before, just to check on the boy, and he was quite familiar with how to get here.

He could sense Hiei coming out of the pub just as both he and Dumbledore disapparated. He grimaced as he got that unpleasant sensation of your energy being carried somewhere else. He had experienced it before…mainly that time when he had squeezed out of the Demon World and into the Human World when he was practically dead. It was like being shoved down a narrow tube.

With another 'pop', he appeared on the sidewalk next to the already apparated Dumbledore. In Kurama's opinion, the house in which Harry lived wasn't really bad…it was just its occupants that pissed off Kurama. How dare they treat a descendant…no matter how distant…of the great Youko Kurama like garbage? He would show them. When this entire 'adopting' business was over, he would come back with Harry and have a nice, long chat.

Kurama saw Dumbledore eyeing him wearily. Smiling at the old man (though not older by any means) innocently, Kurama cocked his head to the side. "Is there a problem, Headmaster?"

"You were beginning to rather look like a fox that had cornered it's pray." Dumbledore said quietly.

_You think correctly…what an intelligent man you are…_Kurama thought. However, on the outside, he just shrugged. "I apologize if you're uneasy because of me. Shall we go? I've met Petunia once, and I'm not particularly fond of her…so I'd like to get it over with."

"You've met Petunia Dursley before?" Dumbledore asked with interest as they began walking forward. Despite the fact it was only half past six, it was already fairly dark, and there were no muggles walking about.

Kurama rolled his eyes. "Yes…at James' wedding. He invited me, along with the rest of the family, and I got to make her acquaintance." Acquaintance was hardly the word. Petunia had tripped and nearly tipped over the entire concession table, and so Kurama had caught her and saved his favourite pudding while at it. She had fallen in love with him for a short while, until she had remembered that two members of their family were already marrying. Then she had backed off. Then, as an afterthought, he added; "I'd like it if you didn't bring up our previous meeting again…it wasn't the best of meetings." After all…what would she say if she saw him looking almost the exact same age as he had been sixteen years ago?

"But won't she recognize you?" Dumbledore asked, ringing the doorbell.

"Probably not. I've changed a lot." Well…not all that much. Back when he had first met Petunia, he had still had long red hair. That was about it. Well…that and a much happier mood because the wedding had only been a few days after he, himself, had proposed to Botan.

"Coming!" A voice said from the other side of the door. Said door opened, to reveal a horse-necked, pencil thin woman. Her jaw dropped open. "What are you doing here?" She demanded, glaring at Dumbledore.

"I apologize for interrupting your evening, Mrs. Dursley, but there is a matter which I can not put off. Is Harry home?" Dumbledore asked politely.

Said young man bolted down the stairs. "Professor! What are you doing here?" He asked, though he seemed much more delighted than his aunt. He noticed Kurama standing behind Dumbledore. "And who's that?"

Petunia was also staring at Kurama with intense concentration on her face. "I can swear I've seen you before…"

"Ah…I don't believe so…"

Petunia gave Kurama suspicious look, but didn't pursue the topic. "Well, why are you standing on my doorstep?"

Vernon Dursley chose that moment to saunter out of the living room. "You!" He shouted, spotting Dumbledore. "How dare you show up here and…?"

"Perhaps we could discuss this inside?" Dumbledore asked pointedly. Instead of waiting for an answer, he simply swept into the house and, after pulling Kurama in after him, shut the door.

"How…you…" Vernon was spluttering. "THIS IS UNLAWFUL ENTRY! THIS IS HARASSMENT!"

Harry, however, bounded over to Dumbledore, ignoring his uncle's continued yells. "It's great to see you again, professor!"

"As it is to see you, dear boy." Dumbledore patted Harry on his shoulder. "How have you been?"

"Well…all right, I suppose. Professor, who is that? Is he an Order member?" Harry asked with interest, staring at Kurama.

Dumbledore chuckled mysteriously. "Actually…no. If we could go sit somewhere before we started conversations…?" He briskly strutted into the living room. Vernon followed, turning purple, as did Petunia. Dudley peered at them from the upstairs railing, not eager to get near wizards again. Kurama gave Harry, who was continuing to stare at the older man curiously, a cheerful wink, and then followed Dumbledore. Harry blinked and trailed after him.

Once they were all seated, Dumbledore summoned a bottle of brandy and passed it around. Well…the brandy bottle floated around and poured its contents into cups, which had been summoned by Dumbledore as well. The Dursleys did not object, but did not even touch their cups, Harry's portion was swatted away by an annoyed looking Kurama, and Kurama himself waved his wand and his cup disappeared. All in all, Dumbledore was the only one who actually had any of the brandy.

Taking a long drought of the brandy, Dumbledore left them in silence for a while. Then, smacking his lips, he made the bottle of brandy disappear, and then put on a much more serious face. He leaned forward a bit and adjusted his spectacles' positioning on his nose.

"First of all…I would like to ask you all to believe me on this, and to not think I am lying. Or holding back the truth. Actually, I only just found out about it two days ago, and confirmed it just today, so it is rather awkward for me as well." Dumbledore said calmly, looking especially at Harry as he said this. "By the way, I really do apologize for the inconvenience, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. It really was an urgent matter though." He addressed this next part to the Dursleys, who looked none to happy at having Dumbledore in their living room.

Harry was the only one who nodded in understanding at Dumbledore.

The old man continued. "As you know, Harry; all the relations you have left are muggles, and are from your mother's side. They are all painfully close-minded and tend to treat you with a certain disrespect and anger. Am I correct so far?" He asked. Not waiting for an answer, he pressed on.

"Well…two days ago, I was in my office, looking through the little pile of mail which had accumulated over the week. I found one envelope, unmarked and unsigned, which caught my eye. So I opened it and read it, and I will admit. It almost gave me a heart attack." Dumbledore chuckled to himself. Smiling, he turned to Harry. "I have exceptionally good news, Harry. You actually have one wizard relative left alive."

Harry took in a quick gasp of air, his eyes going as wide as saucers. He didn't seem to comprehend what he was hearing. "A…wizard relative, sir? Who?" Harry asked faintly.

Dumbledore smiled brightly at Kurama. "Why don't you introduce yourself now?"

Amused inwardly at the old geezer's flair for suspense, Kurama turned to Harry and gave the latter a kind smile. "Hello, Harry…my name is Youko Kurama." He winked at the boy once more. "You should probably refer to me as 'uncle'."

Harry's jaw dropped open, and his eyes grew even wider. There was silence for a moment.

"W-What…?" Vernon began, his face remotely resembling an eggplant with a moustache, "do you mean by that? Didn't you tell us all his relatives were dead? That's why we've had to put up with him for the past…past…fifteen years!" He rounded on Dumbledore, his moustache twitching dangerously. "I demand that you give me some straight answers…NOW!"

"As I stated earlier, I was not aware Harry had any other relatives until now either. It was Mr. Kurama whom approached me just a couple of days ago and told me the truth. He is related to you on your father's side, Harry, and wishes to adopt you, if you would agree."

"If I agree!" exclaimed Harry jubilantly. "Of course I agree! As long as I can get away from these creeps!" Harry waved his hands frantically towards the Dursleys.

"Harry!" Dumbledore reprimanded, though he had that familiar twinkle in his eyes. "Though you may be free from them, they are still your relatives."

Harry completely ignored Dumbledore. He was too preoccupied with Kurama. "This is awesome! When can I move in? Where do you live? Which side are you from?"

"Ah…" Kurama looked quite amused at his 'nephew's' enthusiasm. "One at a time, please, Harry."

"Before we go onto such things," Dumbledore cut in, "I'm afraid we have something else to talk about as well. Harry…Mr. Kurama is from your father's side of the family. Do you know what that means?"

Dimming down slightly at the level of seriousness in Dumbledore's tone, Harry shook his head.

"It means that you will not be protected by your mother's blood anymore. Mr. Kurama has proved himself to be a formidable wizard indeed by showing me his wand alone, and he claims he has several other friends who can protect you in light of his absence. So I trust him. However, you must be extremely careful from here on out. Even during the holidays, you are not going to be completely safe unless you are right beside Mr. Kurama."

Harry nodded solemnly. "Yes, professor."

Dumbledore grinned. Yes, grinned. Harry was slightly taken aback. It was the first time he had ever seen Dumbledore grin like that. "On a lighter note…let's answer the rest of your questions. You do not mind, I hope?" Dumbledore looked at the Dursleys.

"Just take him." Vernon grumbled. "We're through with you stupid wizards!"

"In that case…" Kurama said softly. "Harry, you can stay with me within a week. I'll come pick you up next Thursday; I should have everything completed by then."

"Everything completed?" Harry echoed.

"I'm not quite English; you see…I've been living in Japan. So naturally, I don't have a house here. You needn't worry though," Kurama said quickly at Harry's downcast expression. "I'm in the middle of buying one. I'm actually almost done…and since it's too much trouble to drag all my things from Japan to here, I'm going to purchase all the furniture from here. I'll probably be done in a week." A thought seemed to cross Kurama's head. "Say, how about I come here this Saturday so that we can go shopping for your bedroom furniture? You can pick them out."

Harry blinked in astonishment. "Uhm…do you have enough money for all that…?" Harry asked quietly.

Kurama chuckled. "If I didn't, would I offer to?" _I do a few favours in the Demon World for Koenma and I receive a ridiculous pay…not to mention the fact that I can also go steal some of Yusuke's Kingdom's National Treasure…or even grab some of our's. It wouldn't make even a dent in our treasury._

Uncertain, Harry nodded. "Well…if we run over our budget, we can always take a stop at Gringotts and get some more from my vault."

_Oh yes…I had forgotten about Gringotts…I have money in there too…looks like there's no need for any stealing._ "No, it's quite fine. We'll manage." Kurama stood up. "Well, I'll see you on Saturday then, Harry. If you need me, just holler my name as loud as possible. I constantly have people watching this house, so they should hear you pretty well." The last part had mostly been for the Dursleys' benefit. Just in case.

Dumbledore also rose. "It seems we are overstaying our welcome here. Good-bye, Harry…I will see you at the banquet. Ah, no need to see us out; we'll manage to find the front door ourselves." With a quirky little smile in Harry's direction, the old man strutted out of the living room, followed by Kurama. The latter paused just as he was about to leave the room, and turned back around.

"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley," He said coolly, "if a man wearing all black decides to suddenly burst in through one of the windows or front door in the next week, please don't be alarmed. It merely means Harry called for me." Neglecting to mention that this man's name was Hiei and he wasn't too dangerous, Kurama strutted out.

As Dumbledore and Kurama walked out of the front door, Hiei quickly moved to somewhere other than on top of a lamp post. He would be easily seen from there. He could tell Kurama had seen him, by the look the red…silver…head sent him, but Dumbledore obviously had not.

Hiei was just barely managing to not laugh.

Kurama had just threatened the Dursleys by using Hiei.

"Hn…damn fox is getting craftier by the century."

Chapter Two: Teaching Position

Kurama walked out of the Dursleys' home in a slightly bad temper. Lily had been a doll, but her family…they just sickened him. They treated their own son like gold, but Harry like garbage. The neglect he had been shown had been obvious up until his first year at Hogwarts. Even now, he was too thin.

Dumbledore was quiet for a while, recognizing that Kurama was currently thinking. Then the silence seemed to be too much for even him, and he broke it. "Mr. Kurama…I have a request to make of you."

Kurama glanced over at Dumbledore with surprise on his face. "A request? All right…could you give me a moment?" Kurama looked up at the Dursleys' roof, and said loudly; "Could you come down now, Hiei? I doubt you actually need to break into their home."

Said red eyed demon landed gracefully next to Kurama, startling Dumbledore into stumbling backwards. Hiei crossed his arms. "So I'm off human boy watch duty?"

"I suppose you are. Professor Dumbledore, this is Hiei Jaganshi. He is one of the friends whom I talked about at the Leaky Cauldron." Kurama gestured at the slightly shorter male. "If you will forgive me for using such childish terms, you can also consider him to be my 'best friend', and he will watch over Harry at any times when I am not available. Despite his…no, because of his cold demeanor, he is quite a good bodyguard. People get scared and run away upon seeing him."

Hiei grunted and crossed his arms. Dumbledore' eyebrows shot up to his hairline. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought that Hiei was Kurama's bodyguard, with the protective stance the shorter male was taking.

"I see. I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Hiei. My name is…"

"I know," interrupted Hiei coldly. "Just get on with whatever you were talking to Kurama about."

Dumbledore was visibly taken aback by Hiei's harsh tone, but seemed to disregard it for now. He turned back to Kurama. "If you have truly been watching Harry for as long as I believe…"

Hiei cut in right there. "You're wrong. Kurama hasn't been watching Harry since the beginning of his first year. Kurama's been watching Harry his whole life."

Looking perturbed, Dumbledore continued. "A-Ah…yes…well…I wasn't aware you could perform legilimency, Mr. Hiei."

"I can do anything you pathetic wizards can…but that wasn't legilimency." Hiei looked away. "You're answer with probably be no, just to let you know."

"I will be convinced of that when I hear that from Mr. Kurama's own lips," said Dumbledore determinedly. He turned to look at Kurama. "As you know, Harry is a student at my school. The previous five times when he had a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, there were noticeable…problems about them."

"I'm aware. I was watching." Kurama snorted. An evil psycho with Voldemort living in the back of his head, some dodo who proved the phrase 'blonde airhead' to be true, a werewolf (who was actually someone decent in Kurama's book. Werewolves were a type of demon, and Lupin had been a good teacher), a follower of Voldemort impersonating Alastor Moody, and some ministry witch who had forced Harry to carve 'I will not lie' into the back of his hand. Kurama had nearly sent her out the window then and there…but instead had gotten the centaurs to do it for him.

Dumbledore regained most of the sparkle in his eyes at Kurama's sarcastic tone. "Well then, it makes explaining so much easier. Our students, needless to say, are quite ill-prepared for an invasion by Lord Voldemort. The most they have covered are the Unforgivables, taught to them by a Death Eater."

"Excuse me, professor, but what is your point?" Kurama asked impatiently. He was anxious to get back to the Makai. Or…more accurately, Botan, whom had taken to mostly living with Kurama lately. She was at the level of a mid-A class demon and quite ironically enough, had begun using a scythe as her weapon of choice. Kurama had even persuaded her into wearing black kimonos, like every other ferry girl, so that the image wasn't ruined. She had been an extremely good sport about Kurama moving to England and adopting a child. Upon hearing the circumstances, she had even decided to tag along.

"My point it, it would make it much easier for you if you did not have to simply 'watch' Harry's school life, but also take an active part in it. I am asking you to be our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

Kurama's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "You want me as one of your staff? I find a few holes in your reasoning. Firstly, I am in no need for money, and a job is quite unneeded. Besides, I have things to tend to…my country can not run on its own, and I had been thinking of paying attention to it while Harry was at Hogwarts. Not to mention personal affairs. Also, would I not find it more difficult to keep an eye on Harry if he were to be in some other class while I was teaching? Would my reaction time not be slower?"

Dumbledore seemed to have thought this out, since he replied smoothly. "Harry will most likely be quite safe at Hogwarts, especially during lessons. However, there is always the threat of Lord Voldemort looming over our heads, so if he were to invade…as it is likely he will…would it not be ten times safer for Harry if a distinguished wizard such as yourself were by his side? I'm sure you have a second in command as well, and so could they not take care of your country? I have nothing to say for the personal affairs."

Hiei rolled his eyes; certain Kurama was going to say 'no'. Then he glanced over at the former redhead and had to take a double take. Was the fox actually considering it? Surely this human boy couldn't mean much to him…after all, the only reason Kurama had actually decided to take care of the boy was because he had had a chat with James Potter around a week ago. Koenma had permitted it after a lot of…persuading (i.e. threatening). James, who had been a favourite of Kurama for years and had been aware of Kurama's demon status and 'ancestor to descendant' crap, had actually begged Kurama to take care of Harry.

So, soft as Kurama had gotten over the years, he had relented.

Hiei couldn't believe he was this soft though.

"You're considering it?" Hiei demanded in disbelief. "What the Hell?"

"Quiet, Hiei." Telepathically, Kurama added; '_I'm trying to calculate the pros and cons.'_

'_You can't be serious, fox?' _Hiei snarled back. '_You're going to take the job? Why would you want to go teach a bunch of filthy humans?'_

'_Because Harry Potter interests me, just as James did. Now shut up. I've decided.'_ Kurama looked at Dumbledore coolly. "I will accept, but only if my conditions are met."

"Very well. We are desperately in need of a Defense teacher, so I'm sure we can bend the rules for you."

"I have, as I told you before, personal matters. Personal matters being the fact that I have my fiancée waiting back at home for me. She was extremely good about moving to England and all…but I'm not sure what I should be doing with her while I'm teaching. So, I'd like it if she could come to Hogwarts with me as well…as a teacher or a teacher assistant to me, I really don't mind. Also, Hiei here tends to get violent without me around to calm him down." Kurama grimaced at the memory. The entire deal with Yusuke and Yukina had been a nightmare. "So I'll have to request that he come as a constant guard for Harry…and the rest of the school as well, if you'd prefer. Definitely not a teacher…he'd kill his entire class if one thing goes wrong."

"I'm afraid we have no other spots open, so your fiancée would have to come as your teaching assistant. Having Mr. Hiei there as a guard will only be a good thing for us, as he seems to be extremely capable. If those are all your conditions, then they are easily met." Dumbledore reassured Kurama.

"But those aren't all my conditions." Kurama said coolly. "Since I am teaching and should be getting a pay…I'd like it to go to Harry. Also, occasionally I will disappear for a while. Mainly during the full moon and occasionally at other times."

Dumbledore looked intrigued. "Are you, by chance, a werewolf?"

"No. The timing is just peculiar." Kurama retorted. Hiei was smirking at the annoyance clear on Kurama's face. Well…clear for Hiei, not so much for anyone else. "My final condition is that…I may have guests over the year. They are a rather eccentric bunch with no manners whatsoever, and so might rouse some questions."

"The guests are all easily dealt with. Your friends are welcome in Hogwarts, as long as they harbor no ill intentions." Dumbledore said cheerily. "In that case, you should consider yourself hired. I think you are quite qualified to do the job, seeing as you've played such a large part in Harry's life without anybody noticing until you showed up."

Kurama immediately grew suspicious. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"The reason Harry has not died up until now…or caved from the mental pressure…is thanks to you, is it not?" Dumbledore asked simply. "Good night to you, Mr. Kurama. Since you will most likely be unreachable by me, I will leave the details of your employment with Harry, and he can give it to you on Saturday. Farewell." He disappeared on the spot. This time, he did it silently, almost like how Hiei did.

Kurama smirked with amusement. "So he figured it out. He really is intelligent for a human. I think it's okay if you stop guarding Harry now…I already have a variety of barriers set up around him anyway."

"Your little act has prevented me from wasting a week of my time. I thank you for that." Hiei said sarcastically. "By the way…why did you say you were in the middle of purchasing a house? It's already purchased and pretty much filled up with the furniture and stuff you want, right? Except for Potter's room."

Kurama rolled his eyes. "Because, Hiei. If Dumbledore thinks I was so certain Harry would agree to living with me, he would have been more suspicious than he already was. He would have felt endangered by my foresight as well."

"That's such a trivial reason." Hiei commented.

"Better lie about trivial reasons and avoid having my secrets revealed." Kurama laughed.

"Hn. I suppose I agree." The two disappeared from the spot silently.

James Potter sat in Koenma's office, watching the 'toddler' stamp paper after paper. He had been summoned there by the oh-so-mighty-lord but said lord hadn't spoken one word to him yet.

It annoyed him.

Still, James had a whole lot of common sense, though most people didn't believe so, and his common sense was telling him that annoying Koenma when he could send him to Limbo with just one swish of his hand…well, it wasn't such a great idea.

Finally, Koenma looked up and put his stamp down. He didn't look too happy. "Ogre, get out." He ordered his blue skinned servant steadily.

George blinked in astonishment. Koenma had never once told him to 'get out'. Even when dealing with high class information, George had been considered loyal enough to stay and listen. "B-But…Koenma-sama…sir…"

"I said, get out!" Koenma bellowed loudly. Letting out a squeak, George bolted out as fast as possible, not bothering to apologize when he accidentally ran straight into Sirius, who had just opened the door to walk in.

"Whoa! Be careful, damn it!" Sirius shouted at George's back, shaking a fist at the ogre. Growling with annoyance, he heaved the door behind him shut and plopped down on the couch next to James. "So? What's up?"

Huffing, the small ruler glared and then fished around in one of his desk drawers. With a muttered 'aha!' he produced a sheet of paper, which looked like every other bit of paperwork he had on his desk.

"Starting off…you!" Koenma snarled, pointing a finger at James. "I grant your request to see Kurama again, and this is the result? You asked him to take Harry Potter in? Do you know what that could do your son?"

James blinked. "Kurama has been my guardian ancestor ever since I was born. I think I trust him."

Koenma let out a low moan. Guardian ancestor…right. Picking up the piece of paper he had fished out, he began to read aloud from it. "Guardian ancestors—deities whom watch over a descendant, much like how a guardian angel does, but with a form in the physical plain." There was more, but he stopped there. Slamming the paper back down, Koenma glowered at James. "What part of 'adopting a descendant' fits into that bill? Guardian ancestors aren't supposed to take an active part in their charge's life! They watch from afar and avert any true, life-threatening danger! Why is Kurama your guardian ancestor, anyway? He's a demon!"

"I'm surprised, I thought you would know." James commented. "Youko Kurama mated with a red kitsune once, and the red kitsune gave birth to another red kitsune, and that red kitsune mated with a human, and that human gave birth to a half-breed, and that half-breed mated with another human…it goes on and on like that, until it ends up at Harry. From around my great, great grandfather's generation, the demon blood totally ran out, and so we're virtually demon-blood less from there."

"I still don't get it," grumbled Koenma. "Why would Kurama become your guardian ancestor in the first place? He had no records of doing that for any other descendant except for you and Harry. As it is, Kurama's a highly peculiar case. Most guardian ancestors are grandfathers or great grandfathers, and occasionally ghosts of relations that possessed another body."

James shrugged. "I don't know, he just told me that I 'interested' him. It's probably the same for Harry. My parents never knew about him, so I'm thinking that he wasn't a guardian ancestor for one of them."

"I just finished saying that, you dolt. You remind me of Yusuke so much…gah!" Koenma shook his head. "We're getting off topic! In any case…YOU!" Koenma shouted, rounding his gaze on a nervous looking Sirius. "You bloody idiot…managing to fall into the Makai and getting yourself killed! Do you know how much trouble we've been having over that? It's all because a demon killed a human, but it's your entire fault for falling in!"

Sirius frowned defensively. "I was stunned, what did you expect? That I'd be doing the can-can afterwards?"

"No…ENMA, I'm going to go crazy at this rate…" Koenma shook his head angrily. "In any case…ah, there's the communication from Kurama!" Koenma stabbed the built-in buttons on his desk, and Kurama's face appeared on the large, yellow screen.

"Hello, Koenma." Kurama greeted. He was sitting in one of the conference rooms in his castle. He had opted his usual pose, with one leg crossed over the over and his joined hands resting on his knee. Botan was sitting next to him, wearing a dark blue kimono, and Hiei could be seen leaning against the wall a few paces back.

"Don't you 'hello' me!" Koenma shrieked shrilly, causing Sirius to wince and James to almost fall over. Hiei was seen cringing in the background, and Botan had covered her ears. Kurama's jaw had clenched, but he seemed otherwise unaffected. "You just pranced into the human world and decided to adopt yourself a kid? What the hell are you thinking? Humans aren't supposed to know about demons!"

"Relax, Koenma. I'm posing as a wizard. I had to make myself a specially reinforced wand so that it wouldn't burst into splinters every time I used it, but it's actually all right. Magic is just an extremely weak branch of spirit energy manipulation, after all. The only things I am having problems with are the very weak spells. The first time I tried a levitation spell, I put in too much energy and everything went up into the air. Everything you can imagine. Including refrigerators, plants, both cars I have parked in the garage…the roof tiles. Thank god the house I purchased is a remote country home, or things on the street would have found themselves up in the air as well.""

"I know what you're doing, Kurama." Koenma said accusingly. "Stop trying to change the topic! I know James here asked you to take care of Potter, but why'd you actually do it?"

"Harry Potter is quite interesting." Kurama responded calmly. "But you are forgetting, Koenma, that I do not answer to you any longer. You would do well to not speak to me in such an accusing tone."

Koenma blanched. He had forgotten, because all three of his remaining Reikai Tantei had put up with him, even after becoming Demon Lords. However, it seemed Kurama wasn't in the best of moods that day. "A-Ah…"

"It's Harry's aura which interests me." Kurama said, brushing away a strand of silver from his face. "His, and James', of course. They are most certainly not demons, but not human either. I think there might have been a stunt similar to that of Yusuke and Raizen. A little generation skipping."

Koenma choked. "What?! So the man sitting in front of me right now is a half-breed like Yusuke?"

"I was thinking more of a quarter breed. Of course, they aren't anything even near kitsune. I'm trying to figure out exactly what they are." Kurama shrugged nonchalantly.

"Hn. Werewolves." Hiei said loudly, so that Koenma could hear as well.

James coughed. "Are you implying I'm a werewolf? Because I've never transformed into a wolf in my life. A stag, yes, but not a wolf. Looney is the wolf."

Kurama, on the other hand, looked thoughtful. "You know, that actually makes sense."

Botan, who had been uncharacteristically silent this entire while, poked Kurama in the cheek. "Come on, spill it! I don't want to wait all day, you know!"

Kurama just smirked and pulled her down into his lap. "I'm getting to it. Hiei just suggested that it might be a situation similar to that of a werewolf. Transformation and temporary demon powers, but severe exhaustion afterwards. Their demon blood would have to be awakened first, of course. Dying might work, once they've gained enough power."

Sirius decided to butt in around there. "This ain't making any sense. So now you're saying James and Harry are some sort of…crazy demon werewolves?"

"No. Crazy demon, quarter-breed kitsune would make far more sense," corrected Kurama. "What do you make of it, Koenma?"

"So your demon characteristics were passed onto two members of your family. To release that power, they must die first like Yusuke, but if they don't have enough spirit power for the demon transition to happen at the moment of death, then they remain human." Koenma quickly summed it up.

Sirius' eye twitched. "Then why couldn't you have said all that in the beginning? All you people really managed to do was confuse me to death. And that's saying something…because I'm already dead!"

James nudged Sirius. "Shut up, that's my guardian you're talking to there…"

Sirius gave his best friend a disbelieving look.

Kurama coughed into one of his hands politely, effectively regaining everyone's attention. "If I may continue? Thank you. In any case, Koenma, I actually only called because of a favour I'd like to ask of you. I'd like Botan to be excused of any and all duties for the next year."

"WHAT?!" Koenma exploded. "I can't go without my head ferry girl for that long! The souls would pile up! The world would overflow!"

"Then use Ayame, I don't care." Kurama said sharply. "I'm going to go teach at Hogwarts, and I am not going to leave Botan behind. I've already spoken to Dumbledore about having both her and Hiei at Hogwarts during the time I'm teaching."

Koenma let his head slam down onto his desk. "But…Kurama…" He whined sounding like the child he took the form of.

"No buts." Kurama said a touch testily.

Koenma let out a wail. "You're kidding me!" Then he shot upright as an idea entered his head. "Well, in that case, you get to grant one of my favours!"

Kurama frowned and tilted his head to the side. "And what would that be?"

Koenma looked strangely gleeful as he hopped on top of his desk and announced clearly; "You get to take Black with you!"

There was a stunned silence, the only sound being Sirius' spluttering.

Kurama smiled faintly. "If that is all, then bring him back to life, and we can be on our way."

When Saturday rolled around, Harry was beyond excited. True, he had no particular attachment to this 'Kurama' yet, but just knowing he had relatives…pleasant relatives other than the Dursleys had kept him hyper ever since Thursday evening.

The Dursleys had been fairly tolerable for the past two days. The well concealed threat in Kurama's parting words had obviously frightened them, since they had been treating Harry almost…well.

It was close to nine A.M. when the doorbell rang. Harry was the first one there. He wrenched the front door open and grinned widely at Kurama. That day, he was wearing a casual blue t-shirt and loose black jeans.

The silverhead smiled right back at Harry. "Hello, Harry. I've come to pick you up. Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" responded Harry quickly.

Kurama raised an eyebrow at Harry's clothing. It was a blue and white striped t-shirt and some baggy, gray pants. They were some of the nicer things the Dursleys had decided to buy for him after Alastor Moody's threat. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. "I was thinking we could go to Diagon Alley after we purchase the furniture. I'm presuming you have your wand?"

Harry tugged the stick out of his pants pocket and showed Kurama.

"In that case, then shall we go?" Kurama suggested. He nodded graciously towards Vernon and Petunia, who were watching him from the far wall.

"Er…wait, I don't have my money bag with me. I still have a lot left over from last year, so…" Harry trailed off in surprise as Kurama smirked.

"You won't need it. Did something come for me from Professor Dumbledore? He said he'd leave a letter for me with you." Kurama asked.

"Oh yeah, here…" Harry produced an envelope from his shirt pocket. In spidery, green writing, it was simply addressed to _Youko Kurama_.

Kurama accepted the letter. He tore it open at the seal neatly, and fished out one of the pieces of parchment. He looked at it, and smiled. "I have your school equipment list right here, Harry. Dumbledore really is an intelligent man; he figured out I would be paying for you. Come along, let's get going."

Dumbfounded, Harry trailed behind Kurama to the (expensive looking) sleek black car he had parked in the Dursleys' driveway. All the windows of the car had been rolled down.

Kurama pulled open the passenger seat for Harry, and with a murmured thanks, Harry climbed in. He noticed a man with black hair and penetrating, cold red eyes sitting in the backseat with his arms crossed. The only greeting he gave Harry was a cold look and the slightest of nods.

Kurama hopped into the driver's seat, and he noticed Harry's expression right off. "Hiei, stop scaring my nephew," he scolded.

Hiei let out a grunt, and busied himself staring out the window. Harry vaguely noted that Hiei was wearing all black, and was probably the 'man wearing all black' Kurama had threatened the Dursleys with. They had done well to be afraid; this Hiei seemed to be quite the character.

The car pulled out of the driveway, and Harry waved delightedly at the annoyed looking Dursleys.

Furniture shopping was…eventful. They had visited several shops, and Kurama had announced cheerfully that Harry could pick out 'anything he liked or needed'. Then, instructing Hiei to stay with Harry, Kurama had shot off somewhere else 'to get some guest room furniture'.

Harry ended up buying a furniture set for his bedroom. It was a ridiculous price, but Kurama didn't seem to mind. He had also bought several other pieces of furniture, and had ordered for the entire lot to be delivered to his home by truck within a few days. Harry had nearly fainted from the outrageous total. Kurama paid by card, of course (who carried that much cash around with them?!) and they were off again.

Even though Harry protesting hotly, Kurama firmly insisted on purchasing a whole new wardrobe for Harry. They spent a good two hours in the shop, getting Harry (and to Harry's surprise, Hiei) fitted and measured for shirts, pants, coats, and many other pieces of clothing which Harry hadn't even known had existed. Hiei hadn't seemed too happy about it all, but Kurama had stated clearly that Hiei was not going to wander around in the same clothing everyday. Once again, the clothes were asked to be delivered, and only a few clothes left with them. That is, the clothing Kurama persuaded Harry into changing into. It was a simple attire, really. A gray t-shirt with three lightning bolts going diagonally across the shirt's front, a pair of (expensive) jeans, soft soled sneakers and a thin overcoat just in case Harry got cold.

Next they went shopping for a new pair of glasses.

Then books.

Then muggle stationary, just in case Harry got sick of using quills.

Then a variety of decorations and wallpaper for Harry's new room.

Then a new watch for Harry, since his previous one had stopped working during the Triwizard Tournament and still didn't work.

Kurama even offered to get Harry a cellphone, but the young wizard quickly replied that it would be mostly useless, since electronics didn't work in Hogwarts.

The final few things they bought were mostly for Kurama or Hiei. And, while Kurama was at it, he walked into a jewelry store and came out with a necklace, for 'Botan'.

"I think she'd like this…ah, Botan is your aunt-to-be." Kurama told Harry, noticing the younger male's confusion. "Or…my fiancée."

They ate lunch in a plain old burger shop. Kurama apologized for the plain food, but stated that Hiei refused to go within five metres of a fancy restaurant. So they had to stick with burgers. Which, by the way, Harry was perfectly content with.

By the end of it all, Harry was wondering where Kurama got all that money. It was approaching two o'clock.

"Excellent, we should have enough time to shop in Diagon Alley." Kurama announced, finishing off his coke. "Do you want ice cream, Harry? I'm going to buy some for Hiei."

So Harry found himself licking away at a double scoop, vanilla and chocolate chip ice cream cone. Hiei had taken a three scoop, and Kurama a simple ice coffee.

Then Harry realized…this had only been the shopping in muggle stores.

Albus Dumbledore was currently sitting in on an Order meeting, being bombarded by questions. They were mostly all about Harry's newly appeared uncle. Also now known as Hogwarts' new DADA professor.

"How could you just hand Harry over like that without doing an identity check? Sometimes, I don't know what runs through that brain of yours, Albus, I just don't!" Molly Weasley was saying hysterically, waving her arms around like a maniac. "He could be working for You-Know-Who!"

"I assure you, Molly that he did not have the Dark Mark on him, and he acted nothing like a Death Eater. His tone carries scorn when referring to Lord Voldemort and his wand resonated with the broken pieces of James' wand when he performed a family tracing spell." Dumbledore replied slowly. "Do not ask me how he came to be in possession of James' old wand pieces; he asked me not to inquire into it, and I did not."

"But that does explain why we couldn't find James' wand when we combed the ruins of their old home for it." Lupin said tiredly. "We found Lily's, but not James'."

"But we still don't know for sure if those were actually James'…" Molly trailed off as Dumbledore gave her a stern look over his glasses.

Dumbledore began twiddling his thumbs. "I'd like it if you would all trust my judgment. I admit; I do not fully trust Mr. Kurama either. He seems to have many secrets and abilities we know nothing of. However…he seems to be a fine young man. He has protected Harry for a long time."

"That's what I find suspicious." The deep, slow voice of Kingsley Shaklebolt said from the back of the room. "If this 'Kurama' person has been watching Harry for so long, how come none of us have ever seen him? There are spells around Hogwarts which negate any attempts at spying, and so it must have been done in the flesh."

Dumbledore shook his head. "Mr. Kurama seems to be a very powerful wizard. His wand proves that. It is made out of silver, steel and jade, with phoenix tears, a dark phoenix tail feather, and one of Mr. Kurama's own hairs as the core."

There were loud exclamations of shock all around the room, the loudest coming from Minerva McGonagall.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" She shouted over the other gasps. "That's impossible, Albus! If such a wand existed…the wizard using it…"

"…would not only be a Merlin class wizard, but perhaps beyond." Dumbledore finished the sentence for her solemnly. "Yes, I am aware. That is why I am so confident about Harry's safety. It even seems that Mr. Kurama has several friends whom are powerful and trustworthy."

McGonagall bit her lip and backed down.

Dumbledore looked around at the assembled Order members. "Do you have any more questions?"

"Actually…" It was Snape. "Even if Mr. Kurama was trustworthy and powerful, the Dark Lord would find it a perfect chance to strike. Now that the last protection Potter had is gone, or at least unusable, it's almost certain he will strike. Would it not be better for Order members…particularly aurors, to stand guard near this Mr. Kurama's estate every night? It would be much safer that way."

"Severus, I have said this once and I will stick by it. Harry is safe for as long as he is with Mr. Kurama." Dumbledore said reassuringly. Then, as if to convince himself, he murmured again; "Safe…"

Yusuke let out a low sigh, glaring around himself at the mess which was paperwork. How much simpler it had been back when there had been no peace treaties with Spirit World…back then, it had been a 'brawl it out, you take responsibility for your own actions' kind of thing going on. Nowadays…paperwork, paperwork, paperwork! A demon pokes one toe beyond Makai and the entire room flooded with papers. Kurama and even Hiei had more patience for this than Yusuke did. He had been born a slacker and would remain one until the day he died.

His own paperwork wasn't too overwhelming. However…having to do the shares of both Hiei and Kurama…well, to put it simply, there were so many stacks that Yusuke's room was overflowing.

Making an annoyed face, the half-blood growled low in his throat and glanced at the clock he had nailed to the wall. It told him what time it was in the Human World. In fact, it was very useful for some things. Since Spirit World time and Human World time was basically the same, Yusuke knew exactly when to call Koenma to annoy him. Such as 3:00 A.M.

Of course, there was no concept of 'time' in the Demon World. Everything was a free-for-all, and there was hardly a decrease in activity once nightfall came. In fact, the levels of activity seemed to rise. Many species of demon were nocturnal, and only came out at nighttime to play. Yusuke still preferred to sleep at night and remain awake during the day. It was a force of habit from his human years.

Yusuke stared with distaste at the pen in his hand. Using a bit of force, he snapped it in half with one hand, making all the ink spill out onto his hand.

He just didn't think it was fair. Hiei and Kurama got to go to the Human World and have fun while he was stuck with paperwork. Why was it always Yusuke that was stuck babysitting the Three Kingdoms when the other two were away doing more amusing things? Heck, even Botan had gone with Kurama…but she could be spared, since she was Kurama's mate.

Yukina walked into Yusuke's makeshift office and smiled uncertainly at the mounds of unfinished paperwork. "Have I come at a bad time, Yusuke?"

"Nah, its fine. What's up, Yukina?" Yusuke asked, immediately perking up at the sight of his wife. They had married just a little while ago…it hadn't even been a month. However, she had already become a constant part of his life.

"I just got a message from onii-san." Yukina said softly. "He didn't sound very happy. He says he's been stuck on a shopping spree with Kurama-san and a human for the past five hours."

Yusuke snorted with laughter. "Really? That's hilarious. Imagine, Hiei on a shopping…not a murder…spree!"

"He asked me to tell you to continue with the paperwork, and that if he finds even one overdue by the time he returns he will have your hide." Yukina announced her words a lot more menacing than her tone. In fact, if Yusuke hadn't known that it was Hiei sending this message to him, he would have downright laughed at the innocent way Yukina repeated the message.

"He can try if he wants, but I wonder if he can." The ex-Spirit Detective wondered out loud.

"Kurama-san says that his kingdom had better be in working order when he comes back, or else."

"R-Roger that, I'll get right down to it."


	2. Chapter Three and Four

Chapter Three: Diagon Alley

Harry walked into the Leaky Cauldron, followed closely by Kurama and Hiei. He noticed how empty it was, now that the streets were no longer safe. Not with Lord Voldemort back and killing. Tom the Bartender was dismally cleaning a glass at the counter, but his face cracked into a grin upon seeing Harry.

"Why, isn't it young Mr. Potter? How have you been?" Tom greeted enthusiastically, setting the glass down and walking out from behind the counter. "Would you like anything?"

"Err…actually, we just ate…" Harry said nervously, immediately feeling bad as Tom's face fell, "Has business not been going well?"

"Oh, it's been rather slow," responded Tom gloomily. "There's nobody that will stay at the inn nowadays. By the way, weren't you here a few days ago with Professor Dumbledore?" Tom had spotted Kurama and Hiei.

Kurama nodded. "Yes, I was. I don't believe we've met before. I'm Youko Kurama, Harry's uncle."

Tom looked astounded for a moment, and then the astonishment turned into merriness. "Well, well! What spectacular news! I'm pleased to meet you…yes, very pleased! We need more wizards supporting Harry Potter, especially in these dark times." Tom seized Kurama's outstretched hand and wrung it furiously. Then he turned his attention back to Harry. "I know I may not be much, but if you ever need me, I'll be right here. Long live Potter, eh?"

"Thank you…" Harry said gratefully. "I'd really appreciate that."

Tom straightened up. "Well, now! I must return to work…those glasses aren't going to clean themselves!" Tom shuffled off, leaving Harry, Kurama and Hiei to head to the back, where a brick wall and a run-over looking garbage can awaited them.

Hiei eyed the wall and snorted. "Such a meager defense system." He tapped the necessary brick, and the wall literally 'opened up' to show them a great view of a bustling alley, full of wizards and witches. Harry saw that there had been a considerable decrease in the amount of people there, but nothing else much had changed. He bounded joyfully into the alley. He was in his world now, and planned to enjoy every damn minute of it.

"Hiei, thank you for dealing with all this for the past five hours." Kurama said, turning to Hiei. "I appreciate it. Only a little bit longer now, neh? Could you stay with Harry while he purchases his things? I need to go pick up an order."

Hiei looked at Kurama impassively. "Knockturn?" He asked.

"You know me well!" Kurama laughed. He turned to his 'nephew'. "Here, Harry, I'll be gone for around an hour, but Hiei will be with you. I have something I must take care of. Go to Gringotts first; Hiei will take over from there…and then go get your robes. I'll be back before you're done in Madame Malkin's." Not waiting for an answer, Kurama purposefully strode off, quickly disappearing in the throngs of people.

Harry blinked. "Well…if you say so," he said reluctantly. He wasn't used to Hiei yet, and felt rather nervous around him.

Hiei sighed. He wasn't too fond of Kurama's descendant yet, but of course…over time, Hiei was fairly sure he'd start liking him more. For now…he would try to be civil. "What do I call you, Harry or Potter?" He asked. Then, he added; "Or both?"

"Uh…just Harry will be fine."

"Hn. Come. Harry." Hiei headed off in the direction of Gringotts. He only got a few metres, however, before he saw a blur of brown and pink flinging itself at Harry. It didn't seem to be too dangerous, and so Hiei didn't take direct action…but was ready in any case.

"Ouch! What the…Hermione! Get off of me!" Harry was yelling, though Hiei could detect the barely hidden glee in the wizard's voice.

"Yeah, Mione…you're going to suffocate him…" A redhead. Hiei thought his name was 'Ron Weasley'. So the other miserable human clinging onto Harry must be Hermione. Go figure. Hiei remembered the two from one of the two times Kurama had been unable to keep on eye on Harry himself. Naturally, he had asked Hiei instead.

Managing to push himself out from underneath Hermione, Harry straightened up and beamed.

Ron raised his eyebrows. "What's gotten into you, mate? You're all…shiny…"

"Oh, Ron, don't be ridiculous. It looks like they're finally treating you right, those horrible relations of yours. They actually bought you clothes! And a new pair of glasses! You look great, Harry." Hermione observed approvingly.

"Yeah…actually, it wasn't the Dursleys that bought me this stuff." Harry said. It was around there that Hiei got impatient, and pushed his way back to Harry.

"Harry Potter." He growled with annoyance lacing his tone. "You either come right now of your own free will or you can get dragged by me."

Ron and Hermione immediately took defensive stances against him, but Harry quickly stopped them from taking out their wands. "H-Hey, don't! That's my uncle's best friend!"

"Your uncle?" Hermione echoed. "That horrible fat man who met you at the station last year?"

Harry coloured a bright tomato red. "No! Not that uncle! My Uncle Kurama…he's the one that bought me all this stuff. From my dad's side…he's a wizard."

"What do you mean, uncle? You only have one of those, Harry." Ron said, looking confused.

Hermione, on the other hand, seemed to understand the situation right away. She let out a high pitched squeal and hugged Harry. "I can't believe it! You have a relation left living on your dad's side? I'm so glad for you!"

"HARRY." Hiei snarled, louder than he had intended. Some people gave him looks.

"Ah…I need to go to Gringotts. Have you guys gone yet?" Harry spoke rapidly, hoping to not waste anymore time. Receiving two 'no's', he excitedly dragged his two friends to where Hiei stood. "Uhm…Hiei…? It's okay if I call you that right? Well these are my friends. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They're coming to Gringotts with us."

"Do what you want." Hiei grunted. "I don't care." Brooding, he continued walking. The three humans followed along behind him.

Meanwhile, Kurama was walking down Knockturn Alley, ignoring the suspicious looks sent his way. So what if he was dressed like a muggle? He didn't give a damn, and neither should they.

They were suspicious, but knew better than to interfere in his business. Kurama had unmasked some of his energy, so that the very air around him felt dangerous. Well, at least they had a sense of self-preservation. This was more than could be said for most other wizards.

The shop he was heading for was Gabsons and Co., a shop which specialized in rare, often dark objects not found anywhere else. It was a rival shop to Borgins and Burkes. Kurama didn't really care that he was dealing on the shady side of the law; he had ordered items and he needed them.

Entering the shop, Kurama eyed the various items on the shelves with distaste. He hadn't liked it the previous time he had come, and he still didn't. There was an obvious lack of hygiene, with the dust everywhere and the pickled body parts…and the atmosphere was too thick with magic.

"Ah, I see you have returned. Right on the date, as promised too." A middle aged man with overly large, fly-like eyes and trembling, thin hands was at the counter. He was the owner of the shop; Eric Gabsons.

Not being in the mood for small talk, Kurama immediately cut to the chase. "The items I ordered; I trust you have them?"

"Of course, sir." Gabsons reached under the counter and came up with two rectangular boxes. He lifted the lids of each one, showing a sleek wand nestled amidst velvet in the boxes. "They were most difficult to produce the materials for…and to make, but it is done. This one is 12 inches, made out of a combination of gold, steel, and melted ruby. The core is made out of ice dragon tongue fibers, Asian Ying Dragon scale slivers, and that peculiar black hair you gave me." Gabsons pointed at the box with a glistening, red and black wand. "The strange mix of cores seems to have changed the wand's outward appearance, as well. It was originally bright red, silver and gold. Moving onto this one…" Gabsons pointed at the next box. "It is much less powerful than the other, but still unimaginably deadly. Melted down pure sapphire mixed with flawed topaz, and reinforced marble. Eleven inches. The core is, as you requested, black unicorn horn slivers, crystallized dementor breath and the blue hair. The dementor breath was especially difficult…"

"Thank you for you hard work." Kurama said simply, tossing Gabsons a bundle of galleons. The price was actually fairly reasonable, for such difficult items. "There are 200 galleons in there, 100 for each wand, as agreed upon."

Gabsons grinned toothily. "Why, thank you! You are a most agreeable customer…I look forward to future deals with you."

After retrieving money from Gringotts (Hiei had a spot of trouble with some of the goblin guards) the group got their robes. Hiei, whom had been previously instructed to get at least one pair of robes for himself nearly lit the shop on fire, unknown to the witches and wizards. If he was called 'dear' one more time, he was going to snap.

Walking out of the shop, Hiei gladly sucked in the fresh air. Human buildings were so…stuffy.

The Golden Trio didn't speak to Hiei much, preferring to chat among themselves. Hermione and Ron were all over Harry, asking him questions about this newly discovered 'uncle'. Harry was trying his best to answer them.

What did Harry's uncle look like, was he nice, just how had he found out he had an uncle, was the uncle rich, was he powerful enough to protect Harry from Voldemort…on and on and on.

Hiei perked up when he heard a familiar voice in his head.

'_Hiei, I'm heading back to your location right now. You're in front of Madame Malkin's, correct?' _Kurama's voice said.

'_Hn, you sure took a long time. These humans are starting to really get on my nerves. Did you get them?'_

'_Yes, I did. They seem to be properly made, but I won't know until you try yours out.'_

'_You got one for Botan as well?'_

'_Yes. I'll be right there, so be nice.'_ The mental link was cut off, and Hiei was left being bored, once again. Though not for long.

"Well, well, if it isn't Potty and his pathetic friends," A blonde boy sneered, walking up to them. He was flanked on either side by two goons. Hiei dug around in his memory. Ah, yes. Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Slytherins.

Malfoy continued, not seeming to have noticed Hiei at the back of the group. "How have you all been? Granger, did any of your pathetic muggle family members get killed by the Dark Lord yet? I would've thought that the Dark Lord would aim for mudbloods and blood traitors first thing."

In a flash, there were two wands pointing at Malfoy's throat.

"Ooh, Potty and Weasel think they can take us." Malfoy sniggered, and his two cronies mirrored his move. When a bright ball of red light shot past his head, Malfoy snarled and drew his own wand. "Now you're going to get i…"

"Put that wand down." Six pairs of eyes looked up in surprise as Hiei pushed past Ron to stand next to Harry, with a murderous expression on his face.

Malfoy sneered. "And if I won't?"

Hiei released a portion of his spirit energy. The air around him crackled dangerously. "Put. That. Wand. Down."

Malfoy, though intimidated, didn't back down. "Make me."

Hiei almost laughed. Well…Kurama wasn't here…so he could have his spot of fun.

All colour drained out of Malfoy's face as a dark form began to take shape behind Hiei. The shadows whirled, and took on the form of a gigantic black dragon head, its mouth open and ready to chomp down on Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle saw it too, and whimpered. Obviously, nobody else saw it, since there were no startled yells.

"Leave. Or else." Hiei warned. Stuttering threats, Malfoy backed up a few paces, only to have the dragon move forward as well. Then he turned tail and fled, followed by Goyle, then Crabbe.

Harry was startled. What was up with them? He looked up at Hiei uncertainly, and voiced his gratitude.

Hiei snorted. "They were pathetic. Hardly even worth it."

"I thought I told you to be nice Hiei." A voice sighed. "Scaring schoolchildren off doesn't qualify as being nice." Kurama walked out of the crowd.

"They were the same age Yusuke was when he first started working for Koenma. Older, in fact. I don't consider them 'schoolchildren'." Hiei folded his arms.

Kurama let out an exasperated sigh and turned to Harry. "He didn't seriously injure anyone, did he?"

"Tch. Stupid fox. If I had, then you would've known." Hiei reminded.

"I prefer to ask Harry, thank you very much Hiei." Kurama snapped.

Harry was confused, but replied. "No, he didn't…but the expression on Malfoy's face was priceless. Oh right. Hermione, Ron, this is my uncle Kurama. Uncle, this is Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley; they're my closest ever friends."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," said Kurama politely. He turned around and frowned at Hiei upon feeling a tap on his shoulder. "What is it?"

"Can I have my…wand?" Hiei stretched out a hand, obviously asking for it.

Sighing, Kurama tossed one of the boxes at him. "Don't lose it; I'm not stepping back into that stupid alley again for love or money." Kurama paused. "Okay, maybe for money."

Hiei was observing every inch of his new wand. "I traded in my katana for this?" He asked, disgusted.

Kurama rolled his eyes. "If you had your katana, you'd land yourself in Reikai prison, Demon Lord or not. If you're good over the next few months, I'll think about zipping back home and getting it…but you shouldn't expect too much. I probably won't."

Hiei growled and flicked his wand. Black flames burst out, forming into the shape of a black dragon and then disappearing. Hiei seemed unimpressed, but pocketed the wand anyway.

"So, Harry. Let's go get the rest of your supplies." Kurama said kindly.

After a long while of shopping, (during which Hiei had a difficult time not stabbing someone's eye out with his new wand) Ron decided to return back to his family.

"Mum was in a…meeting…all morning, and she was really pissed off when she came out." Ron said, catching himself before he accidentally said 'Order'. "I don't think she approved of something. Oh yeah, Lupin and Tonks came with us today too. For 'protection' or something like that."

It didn't take them long to find Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who were in Flourish and Blotts. Mrs. Weasley was looking through a stack of books and Mr. Weasley was bugging Hermione's (uncomfortable looking) parents about how the internet worked. Harry was delighted to see them again, and was immediately fussed over by Mrs. Weasley.

"You don't look too bad…but dear, you really are too thin, you must eat more…" She straightened up when Harry backed away from her, and asked loudly; "So where's this uncle of yours Albus recently discovered?"

Seeing the danger waves coming off of the middle aged woman, Harry scooted back a bit more and silently pointed at Kurama, who was at the register paying for Harry's school books.

Mrs. Weasley started forward, dragging Lupin along behind her. Cackling, Tonks followed of her free will, and Mr. Weasley decided that leaving his wife to (probably) chew out poor Kurama wasn't the best of ideas.

"So," Mrs. Weasley said, putting her hands on her hips. Kurama looked startled.

"Uhm…may I do something for you, ma'am?" _'Don't interfere, Hiei, I've got it.' _The fire demon, who had been ready to wrestle the woman to the ground if need be, immediately backed off…though reluctantly. This woman reminded him too much of Mukuro when she was angry for him to like her.

"You're Harry's uncle?" Mrs. Weasley asked, her tone polite but her eyes flashing. "The one Albus holds in such high esteem?"

"Yes, ma'am. Ah…if you would excuse my bluntness, who would you be?" Of course, Kurama knew full well who this fiery woman was. Ronald Weasley's mother, Molly Weasley.

Mrs. Weasley softened a bit at Kurama's politeness. "I'm Ron's mother. This is Remus Lupin, and Nymphadora Tonks. I was hoping I could talk to you about Harry…I heard he was moving in with you…"

Hiei almost snorted. He could tell all the woman wanted to do was see if Kurama was trustworthy or not.

"Wow, you don't reckon she'll traumatize him for life, do you?" Ron whispered to Ginny in the background. Ginny just shrugged and mouthed 'How-am-I-supposed-to-know' at her older brother. Hermione simply looked bemused at the scene.

Finally, convinced that Kurama was 'all right', Mrs. Weasley backed off. Kurama let out a sigh of relief, and glanced down at Harry's school list. "I think we're done everything, Harry. What do you want to do now?"

Harry blinked. They had already visited most of the shops he had been intending to, and seeing as he didn't want to ask for anything more of Kurama, he just shook his head. "There's nothing else but going home. Is he going to be okay with all those parcels?" He directed the last part towards Hiei, who was carrying most of the items bought that day in Diagon Alley.

To answer that question, Hiei picked up all the parcels at once with one hand.

Had Harry been an anime character, he would have sweatdropped. "Okay…I see you'll be fine…"

After a great deal of kissing and hugging, and promising to see each other at the beginning of the year, Kurama managed to tear Harry away from his friends. They loaded up the car and were on their way back to the Dursleys'. Being as tired as Harry was, (he'd hardly slept due to excitement the night before) he fell asleep with his forehead against the window.

"Harry…we're here." Kurama's soft voice woke Harry up from the light doze he had slipped into. Blinking groggily, the boy rubbed his eyes and waited until Kurama's face swarmed into focus before saying anything.

"Oh…hi." Harry managed stupidly.

Kurama chuckled. "Hello, Harry. We're at your…other uncle's house. Before you go inside, I'd like to talk to you about moving in."

Harry was wide awake at that. He sat up in his seat a bit straighter. "Y-Yeah? What's up?"

"Oh, just a few minor details. I will be rather busy for the next week, so I can't pick you up on Thursday myself, but I will send either Hiei or another friend of mine; his name is Yusuke. I have a kingdom to run, you see, and it's not fair dumping everything on Yusuke. I will keep your school supplies for now, so that you don't need to bother with moving it back and forth. I'll set up your room and everything for you before you come." Kurama smiled tiredly. "The thing is, Harry, I'm getting married in just two days, and it really is hectic."

At this news, Harry's eyes widened. He hadn't known his uncle was so busy. "Oh. Err…congratulations?"

"You'll meet your aunt on Thursday. Just pack and be ready by five P.M." Kurama took his hands off the steering wheel. He seemed to have remembered something. "I haven't spoken to you about this yet…damn. I forgot."

"Forgot what?" Harry asked inquisitively, curious to know what had annoyed his uncle.

"Headmaster Dumbledore offered me a teaching position at Hogwarts as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor." Kurama informed Harry slowly, not knowing how the boy would react. "Hiei and Botan…that would be your aunt…are also coming. We're not going to be taking any chances with you, not while Voldemort is at large."

Harry looked like his birthday had come early. "You're kidding me! No, wait, I can tell you're being serious. That's amazing! And here I was, worried that Snape was going to get the position!"

Kurama grinned. He was glad Harry seemed so accepting of the idea. "Well…we'll see if you like the idea of my being your teacher after you spend some more time with me. Have a good evening, Harry."

The boy clambered out, and waved furiously at the car until Kurama had pulled away and was out of sight.

Koenma was, as usual, stamping away in his office, when George came stumbling into the room, looking panicked.

"Sir! Sir! We have a dire emergency on our hands!" George yelled, waving his clawed hands around dramatically. He tripped halfway to the desk, and landed flat on his face.

Koenma, who had been hard pressed for time lately because of the extra paperwork coming in, (before he could bring Black back to life, as he had planned, he had to go through a lot of…dare he say it? Bullshit) merely looked up irately. "What is it, Ogre? I don't have time for dillydallying, you know."

"K-Koenma, sir! We've had a large scale breach of the Kekkai barrier!"

"_WHAT?!_"

"From w-what we can tell, we have eleven lower Super-S class demons and 34 mid-A class demons on the loose, as well as a variety of different parasitic demons. Their low spirit energy makes it impossible for us to see how many of them there are, but we've predicted that close to 70 low C-class parasitic demons have escaped." George babbled, shuffling through the papers hurriedly. "The Super-S demons seem to have blasted a gigantic hole in the Kekkai with their combined power, and escaped through there. We sealed it back up before anymore demons could come through, but this is disastrous! The Special Defense Force is useless at this stage!"

Koenma slammed his hands down on his desk. A few pieces of paper fluttered to the ground, but went totally unheeded. "Ogre! Patch me through to Yusuke and Kurama at once! I want a three way conversation going here…the news must be delivered as quickly as possible!"

"Wait, sir, there's more." George said hastily. "We think that these demons have rallied under the four Super-S demons, and the Super-S demons seem to have joined forces with a…a human."

Koenma's jaw went slack. "A human? Who, Ogre?"

'Tom Riddle, sir; he's an English wizard, also known as Lord Voldemort, and is at the level of a high C-class demon. He…"

"I know who Voldemort is, dimwit! Anything else?"

George looked down at his papers nervously. "We think that the demons are planning on aiding Voldemort to take control of Ningenkai, and then they want to kill him off afterwards to keep the spoils for themselves."

"This is ridiculously catastrophic! Get Yusuke and Kurama on the line…_NOW!!!_"

Yusuke, who had gotten the majority of the paperwork done earlier in the day, was pleasantly annoyed (was that possible?) to get a call from Koenma. He was sitting with his feet up on his desk and his hands behind his head; a perfectly relaxed, though rather unbalanced, position.

"Yo, Toddler-Bitch from Hell. What do you want?"

Koenma looked frantic. "Yusuke, how many S and A-class demons are in your Kingdom?"

Said Demon Lord frowned. "Uh…in mine alone? Around 120 A-classes and 40 S-classes."

"What about Super-S classes?"

Yusuke thought it out. "Twenty?" He estimated. "But they all live…a bit lower than us." He was referring to the lower levels of the Demon World, where the stronger demons lived. "I mean…they all acknowledge me as their king and all, but I don't interact much with them."

"Quick, do a check with that spirit sense of yours and check to see if all of your A-class and S-classes are still there!" Koenma was half-yelling by now.

Yusuke paused for a moment, his face screwing up with concentration. "Uh…that's funny…I'm short four Super-S classes and 16 A-classes. Whoa, what's wrong with you?" Koenma had turned tomato red, a deep purple, a peculiar shade of blue, a sickly green, and then paper white, which quickly turned in a mushy grayish shade.

"You didn't feel it?" Koenma asked his voice at a whisper. "We just had eleven Super-S, 34 A-class, and around 70 parasite demons blast a hole through the Kekkai Barrier and leave into the human world."

Yusuke was dumbfounded. He stood up immediately, his chair toppling over with a bang as it hit the marble floor. "They escaped? Hang on…" He did another check with his spirit sense, and found that Koenma was right…though a little off on the facts. "You're totally right. Four of my Super-S classes are missing, three from Hiei's kingdom and four from Kurama's kingdom. You're wrong about the A-classes though. There are 16 of mine missing, 18 of Hiei's, and 12 of Kurama's missing. It all totals up to 46, not just 34. I don't know about the parasite demons…too many to count."

Koenma let out a squeak, and sank down in his seat. "Oh…" He moaned. "What do we do? Yusuke, these demons seem to have joined forces with a man known as Lord Voldemort. You heard about him from Kurama, right?"

"With a human?" Yusuke questioned disbelievingly. "Somehow, I find that hard to believe."

"We believe they're planning on working with him for the time being, but then backstabbing him and killing him off at the end of their 'world domination' plan. I didn't realize our Kekkai was so weak!" Koenma howled.

Abruptly, Kurama's face appeared on screen. "Hello, is something the matter, Koenma? Your ogre assistant was really adamant that I contact you again right away…oh, greetings Yusuke."

"Hey fox-boy, are you aware that five of your Super-S class demons and 12 of your A-class demons have all just blasted holes through the Kekkai barrier Reikai set up and made their way into Ningenkai?!" Yusuke's face, which had adjusted its size automatically when Kurama's face had appeared on screen, shouted. "In total, it looks like we had a whopping-ass eleven Super-S, 46 A-class, and 70 fucking parasite demons escape! What're you planning on doing, Kurama? They teamed up with that Voldy…person!"

There was a clatter and a swirl of colours as Kurama's screen went dark. From the sounds of it, it seemed that Kurama had just dropped the communication mirror. His considerably paler face appeared back on-screen after a few seconds. "Please tell me this is an extremely bad joke on your part, Koenma."

"No joke. Where's Hiei?"

At that, another communication signal came through, and Hiei's face appeared below Yusuke's face. He seemed to be in the backseat of a car. The same car that Kurama was driving in fact, only he didn't seem to be in the mood to share communication devices with Kurama.

Seeing Yusuke's expression, Kurama added in; "Don't worry, I've pulled into the park so I'm not driving."

Hiei grunted. "I heard everything. How many of mine escaped, Yusuke?"

"Three Super-S classes, 18 A's, and God knows how many parasites." Yusuke paused. "On the other hand, no, God does not know how many parasites." He aimed a glare at Koenma.

"So we're all involved." Kurama muttered.

Beeping signaled another communication had come through. Botan's face appeared beside Hiei's and underneath Kurama's, so that there were now four panels with four different faces on screen. "Botan in England, reporting for duty, sir. Ayame gave me a ring and told me. What's our course of action?"

Koenma scrambled on top of his desk so that he could be seen a bit better. "Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei…I know that none of you are obliged to help…but they are from your kingdoms and technically your responsibility…"

"Oh, here we go again…" Yusuke muttered. "You're trying to wheedle us into doing the grunt work for you. I thought Spirit World was in charge of demons that escape into the Human World?"

"We are…but it would help if you three would aid us!" Koenma shouted.

"Yusuke, it is partly our responsibility; Koenma was right about that. They are demons from our kingdoms, and dragging them back does not seem to be too hard. Besides…I would have to go against them anyway, as they have joined up with Voldemort, and Voldemort is aiming for Harry."

Hiei chuckled grimly. "I think Harry is Kurama's new project. Now that he's 'bored', he's decided to try to protect and raise this kid." A car headrest went flying at him, which the fire demon easily ducked.

"You don't have to put it that way," snapped an irked Kurama. He refocused his attention on Koenma. "Hiei and I will help. It should not be too difficult, unless there are more of them than we expected."

"Bullshit!" Yusuke declared. "It's going to be downright hard. Even with our strength, it won't be a piece of cake. I'll help too."

Botan pitched in as well. "I'll try, but I think I'll get in the way more than anything."

"Nonsense, you're powerful enough to beat at least one of those A-classes, and probably most of the parasites." Kurama said, hoping Botan wasn't too discouraged.

Hiei was silent. Then he suddenly spoke up. "We can't rush into this. Think; we're dealing with eleven Super S-classes. The A's probably don't matter, unless they catch us off guard…"

"They're all lower Super S classes," Koenma said helpfully. "Maybe you'll be able to fight them all off."

"If they have even an ounce of a brain, then they won't attack one by one. They'll attack as a large group and launch a full scale attack." Kurama said thoughtfully, already planning out his moves. "I'm thinking that Lord Voldemort will send Death Eaters, dementors, giants…the works with them. I'm almost certain he'll attack Hogwarts, when all the students are there."

"Let's hope they don't have brains then?" Yusuke said weakly.

"No. I would like it much better if they attack all at once, rather than little by little. It's better than being chipped away at daily until we're so exhausted that we can't even resist the final onslaught." Kurama's lips pursed. "Waiting for them to attack would be a smarter idea; we don't even know the identities of those who escaped, and I doubt we'll find out until they reveal themselves. So we wait it out."

"You know, fox, I think taking that teaching position was a good idea after all. We get to stay at Hogwarts all year long, making sure the demons don't kill everyone. When they do attack, we get to meet them." Hiei smirked. "The only question is what to do with Yusuke?"

"I could arrange something with Dumbledore." Kurama suggested brightly. "Yusuke, how would you like to teach a bunch of children who likely have never exerted themselves physically how to fight in hand-to-hand combat?"

Yusuke looked at the silverhead as if he had grown a second head. "What?"

"I will take that as a yes. This is what I suggest. Hiei, Botan, Yusuke and I will all go to Hogwarts and wait there for a while, preparing the school for the inevitable attack without them knowing it. Voldemort will almost definitely attack within the next school year. We must prepare them, or it will be a bloodbath." Kurama stroked his chin thoughtfully. "When Voldemort does attack, we counter-attack full-force, and slay all the demons. The wizards will not find out our true identities until the day of the attack, and they will most likely be too preoccupied with battling to notice us turn into our true forms. However, on the chance that they do notice and question us, we can invent some creative, believable excuse or mass-mindwipe them. Though I'd prefer not to do that."

Yusuke's eyebrows shot up. "What about this mountain of paperwork? If none of us three are going to be at home to do it, then who will?"

"It's called a 'second in command', Yusuke." Hiei butted in. "I have one going by the name of Mukuro…and you have one named Chuu, remember?"

Kurama felt slightly uneasy at the thought of leaving Yusuke's kingdom in the hands of Chuu. Admittedly, the man was sober much more lately, but not by much. Ah well, at least Shishiwakamaru, Rinku and Suzuka were there to keep him in check. Truth be told, Kurama felt much safer with his own kingdom. The Shinobi were his second in commands, and were efficient. (To be precise, Touya was Kurama's second in command, but Jin counted as well.) Hiei was the luckiest. He got Mukuro, a former Demon Lord.

"What about Yukina?" Yusuke muttered, half to himself. "There's no way in Hell I'm going to leave her here."

Hiei seemed to second Yusuke on that, and both Demon Lords turned to Kurama. The silverhead squirmed slightly under their gazes. "I will…work something out with the Headmaster."

Yusuke shrugged. "As long as she's somewhere near me. She's pretty darn powerful, too; did you see her latest attack? Caused the entire castle to feel like an ice rink for ages. She'll be safe."

Kurama nodded. Then he shifted his serious gaze to Koenma, who looked considerably happier now that all three Demon Lords were willing to go. "The final matter is…Koenma; we can't win this battle without killing humans."

Koenma started. "But I can't let you kill humans! It's against every law concerning demons there is!"

"Then bend the rules. Don't make it even harder for us, Koenma. If we have to focus on not killing our opponents…even the Death Eaters…while we are fighting, then we'll be the ones to die." It was an overstatement, but hey, anything to convince Koenma, right?

The 'toddler' sighed and wrote on a piece of paper. He held it up to show the screen. "This is the temporary law that lets you three demons…and Botan…kill humans. I'm removing it the moment this is over, though." Koenma set it down and stamped the paper with his royal seal. "Permission for extermination of select humans; granted."

Chapter Four: Moving In

Ecstatic, Yusuke was jumping up and down on his bed. He had just recently moved into Kurama's England home, and was delighted. He even claimed that he liked it there better than he liked his enormous bedroom back in the Makai.

Kurama and Botan were watching this childish display with raised eyebrows. Botan, whom had married Kurama just a few days ago, looked worried that Yusuke was going to break the bed. Hiei was off somewhere downstairs, probably slaughtering the stash of candy Kurama had just recently bought.

The marriage between Kurama and Botan had been simple and quick. In the Makai, there was no such concept as 'marrying', only 'mating'. In the Reikai, there was no mating or marriage period. After all, why would dead people want to marry? So Kurama and Botan decided on a human wedding, and it had been carried out as simply as possible. They had decided against a honeymoon; things were just too busy. Maybe once this entire fiasco was over.

Now, three days later, they were preparing to welcome their first 'child' into their home. At least…that was how Yusuke had put it.

"Yusuke, will you please stop pounding on the poor furniture and go fetch Harry for me?" Kurama asked tiredly, sitting down on a nearby armchair.

Yusuke paused in his hopping and frowned. "What? Why me?"

Botan pitched in. "Well, Hiei doesn't have a driver's license, Kurama has to finish up the preparations for you three's leave in the Makai, and I need to make dinner. That leaves you, who has nothing to do except jump on your bed."

Yusuke scowled deeply. "Well, yahoo. He's your nephew, Kurama. I'm not going, and you can't make me."

Five minutes later found Yusuke sitting in the car, starting up the engine and muttering to himself angrily. "I can't believe they actually made me go!"

When the doorbell rang, Harry was just finishing up packing his things. Slamming his trunk's lid shut, Harry stuffed his wand in his coat pocket and sprinted down the stairs.

Vernon was already at the door. "Yeah, he's coming." He was saying. He turned around and gave Harry a vicious look. Sauntering off back to the kitchen, he let Harry deal with the 'person at the door'.

Confused slightly, Harry took a step back. There was a downright intimidating looking man at the door, with gelled back black hair and red-brown eyes. He was wearing a white shirt with jeans and a brown leather overcoat.

The man looked Harry up and down. "You Potter?"

"Yes…who are you?"

"Yusuke Urameshi's my name. Kurama told me to come pick you up. Where's your stuff?" Harry gestured up the stairs, and Yusuke marched right in. He emerged back from Harry's room loaded down with his trunk, Hedwig's (empty) cage, and Harry's Firebolt. He seemed surprised. "Is this all?"

"Yeah…" Harry trailed off, aware of how few things he had. "Uhm…I can take it all."

"Shut up and go say bye-bye to your relatives; you won't be seeing them for a while." Yusuke snorted, jabbing a thumb in the direction of the hall, where the Dursleys were all clustered.

Harry blinked, wondering what to say. "Uh…thanks…and…bye?" He said uncertainly. It was more of a question than a proper farewell.

Vernon grunted in reply, and all Petunia did was stare. Dudley, however, lifted a hesitant hand and gave a little wave. Surprised, Harry waved back, and turned to walk out the door.

Yusuke nodded at the Dursleys, and swept after Harry, shutting the door on his way out.

Harry was already seated in the car when Yusuke was done shoving the trunk into the back of the car, and he plopped in the driver's seat, grinning broadly. Harry was astonished at the sudden change in his demeanor. He had been gruff until a few seconds ago…

"Gods, I hated that. Kurama told me to be 'strictly professional', but heck; I can't manage that for my life. Sorry if I seemed like Hiei back there. It's great to meet you, Harry." Yusuke clipped his seatbelt in. "Hey, buckle up and hold on tight; I can't guarantee your safe arrival otherwise."

Hastily, Harry scrabbled for his seatbelt, and managed to clip it in not a second too late. Yusuke slammed his foot down on the gas pedal, and the car shot forward.

"WHOOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!"

"They're a bit late, don't you think?" Botan asked Hiei, carrying a pot of stew to the vast dining room table. She had made all Western food that evening, just for her new 'nephew'.

Hiei, as usual, was unresponsive. He just sat in one of the seats with his arms folded.

Botan let out a disappointed sigh and put out the plates. She perked up right away when the doorbell rang. She dashed to the front door, and with some difficulty, managed to push it open. She beamed at Yusuke, but then the smile dropped off her face as she spotted Harry.

The poor boy was a strange shade in between green and gray.

"Oh, Yusuke, you managed to scare him! You should really do something about that mad driving of yours…" Botan reproached, ushering the two inside.

Yusuke rolled his eyes indifferently. "Try being a passenger on your oar. It's ten times scarier."

Botan huffed and pointed upwards. "Take those things to Harry's new room…the one across from yours…wash up, and then come down for dinner." As Yusuke set off in the opposite direction, Botan shooed Harry into a nearby washroom. "You can wash up in there. Don't take too long, or the food will get cold." She shut the door.

Harry managed to teeter to the sink without falling over, and set about scrubbing his hands and face. He never wanted to ride in a car with Yusuke again. _Never_.

Scuffling out of the washroom, Harry marveled at the sheer size of the building he was in. It was around half the size of Hogwarts, but that was a feat in itself. Following his trusty sense of smell, he made it to the dining room without much incident. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when he saw the food laid out. It reminded him of the Start-of-the-Year banquet held at Hogwarts each year. Hell…he hadn't been aware so much food could be laid out in a simple household. Well…not a 'simple' one, per say, but a household.

"Finally, the Honorary Newcomer is here! Can we eat now Botan, damn it?!" Yusuke exclaimed upon seeing Harry. Without waiting for a response, he began piling food onto his plate.

Harry sat down, glancing about. There was Hiei, quiet and still. Yusuke had already begun, and the woman who had answered the door…Botan…was smiling at him cheerfully. She was a breathtakingly beautiful woman, with thick, aqua hair tugged into a low braid, and light, purple-ish eyes that sparkled and seemed almost pink in the light. Harry could only assume this was his aunt, and Kurama's wife. They were a well-matching pair…or at least, in looks.

Speaking of Kurama…where was he? Harry glanced around, looking for the silverhead.

Botan looked at Harry curiously. "What's wrong, Harry?"

"Erm…where's Uncle Kurama?" Harry asked hesitantly. He had been looking forward to seeing him again; Kurama was pleasant to be around.

Botan waved her hand dismissively and laughed. "Oh, you needn't worry about him. He'll be along in a bit; he had something last-minute to take care of. Until then, dig in!"

Seeing that everyone else had already begun, Harry tentatively began. He tried some mash potato, and noticed Botan eyeing him gravely. "Hi?" He asked.

"Do you like it?" Botan asked, her tone serious.

"Y-Yeah, it's great. It melts in my mouth," responded Harry truthfully. A relieved grin broke out across his aunt's face.

"That's so good to hear! I've been working really hard on my Western dishes. They're so different from Asian ones…now that a Westerner's told me it tastes all right; I can start trying other kinds!" Botan stuck a spoonful of baked peas into her mouth.

Harry was soon immensely enjoying himself. Yusuke was shoveling food down his gullet like there was no tomorrow, and Hiei was staring up at the high ceiling, not eating at all…though the food on his plate was mysteriously disappearing at a rate rivaling Yusuke. The black haired teen and Botan were the only ones who were eating normally, while chatting. Harry found that he was just as taken in by Botan as by Kurama, and he was able to relax.

Halfway through the meal, there was a loud 'SLAM!' Everyone looked up from their food.

"It looks like Kurama is back." Botan said, standing up. Her eyebrows were knitted together. She hurried out to greet her husband.

Yusuke stared after her. "You know…Kurama very rarely slams doors. He usually comes in so damn quietly that we don't know he's there until we almost bowl him over." He commented through a mouthful of steak.

Harry jumped a good few centimeters when there was a loud shriek.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!" Botan's voice yelled.

Kurama's unmistakable voice, a bit louder than usual due to frustration, replied. "The Spirit Defense Force refused to let me past the barrier, even though I'm sure they knew I was one of the rare exceptions. It must be the entire deal with the S and A classes."

"Are they all…?" Botan asked quietly.

"They're not dead or dying; if that's what you want to know. I'll clean up and come back down."

"Harry's here."

"I know."

Botan walked back into the room, and Yusuke went back to eating. The food continued to disappear off of Hiei's plate. Harry, however, was too anxious to eat anymore. Kurama was home…and he didn't sound very happy. What had happened?

Botan gave him a comforting look. "Don't worry about it, Harry. It's not such a big deal."

Hiei looked up. "Kurama's not angry, so stop looking like your best friend died."

Yusuke snorted into his milk. "Oh, so that's how you guys looked back with Sensui when I…"

"Shut up, moron." Hiei went back to staring at his disappearing food.

While Hiei and Yusuke snarled insults at each other, Kurama walked into the dining room and took his place beside Botan. Yusuke broke off mid-sentence.

"Hey, what happened to your arm?" Yusuke asked, raising an eyebrow at Kurama's bandaged right arm.

"The Spirit Defense Force seems to play dirty nowadays as well." Kurama answered, starting on some salad. Yusuke looked like he was about to ask more, but a noodle came flying from Hiei's direction and landed splat on the black haired man's face. Yusuke started swearing vulgarly at Hiei, even fingering him.

Kurama turned towards Harry. "I apologize for my tardiness. I ran into problems on my way back, to say the least." He smiled at Harry, and continued his dinner, leaving everyone else to finish theirs off.

Kurama dragged Hiei to the kitchen, so that they could clean the dishes. As he walked out, he turned around and said to the three remaining at the table; "Yusuke, Botan, could you show Harry around while we do the dishes?"

Botan sprang up. "Ooh, sure! Come on, you two!" She said enthusiastically. Harry, Yusuke, and a chipper Botan headed upstairs.

Yusuke was strutting around, pointing at every door they came across. "That's Hiei's room, bathroom, Botan's study, another bathroom, spare bedroom, spare bedroom, Hiei's room for cutting stuff up, Kurama's study, library, washroom, spare bedroom, Kurama and Botan's room…otherwise known as the master bedroom…my room…my room for 'studying'…here's your room, and the one next to it is your study." Yusuke kicked open the half ajar door to Harry's bedroom.

The room was cozy and nicely furnished, with the furniture set Harry had picked out placed in spots here and there, an armchair, and a closet filled with his (new) clothes. Harry's trunk and broom had been flung on the floor without much thought, and Hedwig's cage was sitting on the windowsill.

"Well, I'm gonna go now. Have fun doing whatever!" Yusuke waved in false enthusiasm and sauntered out, leaving only Botan and Harry in the room.

Harry sat down on the bed carefully, and Botan plopped down beside him without such carefulness. "Aunt Botan…I have a question."

Botan smiled at Harry. "What is it?"

"Why is it that you call Uncle Kurama by last name?"

"What? Oh…actually Harry, Kurama's first name is…Kurama. Youko is just a title." Botan responded, flapping a hand in the air subconsciously. "His last name, if he had one, would be ether Youkai or Minamino. Yes…probably Minamino. I never bothered to change my last name, so mine remains Reikai."

"Oh. That makes sense."

Botan nodded, and fell over backwards onto the bed. "So, Harry, tell me about Hogwarts. I'm going as Kurama's teacher assistant, and I need all the info I can get!"

It was nearly three hours later that Harry ran out of things to say, and after running to get him a glass of water, (Harry's voice had started to crack) Botan shooed him into bed and left, claiming it was 'bedtime'.

Harry fell into a dreamless sleep easily.

Kurama sat down in the living room, letting the day's tenseness evaporate from his body. There had been much to do, the past week, and he was glad most of it was over.

Hiei sat down next to him. "Did you talk to Koenma yet?"

Kurama shifted so that he could look at Hiei instead of at the wall. "I did. He didn't have much to tell me, except that the paperwork for transferring Black is almost done. He should be alive again by the time first term at Hogwarts starts."

"And? What are we supposed to do with him while we're teaching the humans?" Hiei demanded. "We can't just have him walking around; we're not even supposed to let it be known he's alive again until our cover's blown."

"Mostly because if he was found alive and interacting with us, our 'cover' will be of no more use. It works both ways," said Kurama thoughtfully. "We could always tell him to stay in this house while we're at Hogwarts…though from what I've seen of Black, he won't agree."

"The toddler can't find a good way to bring the stupid human back to life, so he dumps him on us. Just because Black's death was unscheduled…why can't Koenma pull a stunt like what he did back with Yusuke?"

Kurama raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Because wizards make horrible Spirit Detectives? Remember Sensui and his wizarding tricks?" Hiei huffed and looked away. Yusuke shambled into the living room, followed by Botan.

"Yo, Potter kid's asleep. He's an okay person; I can't believe he's related to you, Kurama." Yusuke sat down, sprawling over the couch. "He's like…what…a great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great…"

"You can stop there, Yusuke." Kurama said hastily.

Botan took her seat next to her husband, flicking a strand of silver away from his face. "He's a darling child, Kurama…and believe it or not, he has your eyes."

Kurama shook his head. "No…he has Lily Potter's eyes." He corrected. "I believe I already explained that Shuuichi Minamino has nothing to do with Harry Potter whatsoever? Only Shuuichi has green eyes; Youko has golden."

Botan shrugged. "Oh, don't worry yourself over the trivial things." She drew her knees up to her chin. "So, have you three decided what to do with Yukina yet?"

"I spoke to Professor Dumbledore. He's perfectly fine with the idea of starting a combat class, and as Madame Pomfrey has recently been asking for days off, the Headmaster says Yukina can fill in on those days. That would be once every week; otherwise, she will be helping Yusuke. Inari knows how many injuries will happen while Yusuke is teaching." Kurama answered. "Hiei and I were just discussing what to do with Black while we're all busy."

"He can turn into a dog, can't he? Why can't he just be your pet or something?" Yusuke yawned.

"Because, moron," Hiei snapped. "The members of that flimsy 'Order of the Phoenix' all know exactly what Black looks like in his canine form. He would be instantly recognized. And in case you've forgotten, we don't want that."

"Keep talking, Hiei. It might land you in trouble one of these days." Yusuke snapped, looking away and huffing childishly.

Kurama coughed into on of his hands politely. "Black?" He reminded them.

Yusuke laughed embarrassedly. "Yeah…right. If they're going to recognize him, why don't we change his appearance a bit? He can go from big Grim dog to tiny toy poodle, if we ask Koenma the right way."

"Black would never agree to that." Hiei retorted, sounding superior. "He's too stubborn and vain." He glanced over at Kurama pointedly as he said the last word.

Botan clapped her hands together. "Well…if Sirius won't agree to that, why don't we change his species? Koenma won't mind turning him into a wolf or a coyote or something…and Sirius will agree as long as his new appearance isn't too ridiculous."

There was a brief silence, during which everyone considered the new idea.

"A wolf might work, if it doesn't resemble his dog form too much," Kurama agreed.

"A coyote." Hiei said approvingly.

"A KUNG-FU PANDA!" Yusuke exclaimed excitedly, leaping up and striking a kung-fu pose. He received three ogling stares. "What?"

Kurama sighed exasperatedly. "Let's avoid pandas…please." Botan nodded in agreement.

Hiei, however, seemed to be concerned about something else. "Hn. That's not a proper kung-fu stance." He received a few raised eyebrows and sweatdrops.

Kurama cleared his throat after a moment, once again the one to bring them back on-topic. "I will suggest that to Koenma. But…ah…there is a minor glitch. While Mr. Black is with us, he must maintain the guise of a proper pet. Who…will take care of him?"

"No. I hate that man." Hiei said immediately. "He reminds me of Jin too much."

Yusuke shrugged. "Well, he's not a blue teddy bear with a beak…and I actually like him…but I dunno squat about taking care of animals; human wizard in disguise or not. I'd probably lock him in the closet after he annoys me and then forget about him for two weeks. Keiko's the one that used to take care of Puu…" He trailed off, a slightly pained expression on his face.

Botan hastily chipped in. "I don't mind much, but we all know I have an attention span worthy of rivaling Yusuke's…and besides…Kurama probably doesn't agree with me taking care of a man." She looked over at her husband.

The slightest twitching of Kurama's eye showed that Botan was correct. "You are not taking care of Black." He snapped curtly. He looked over at Yusuke. "You, Yusuke, need to bring Puu with you. Phoenixes are allowed, fortunately, so get Koenma to shrink him down a bit. You're not going to leave him with Jin, are you?"

Yusuke looked horrified. "Heck no! I'll bring him. So what about Black? I definitely can't take care of him, if I have Puu…Hiei will most likely fry him to a crisp, and Botan and Yukina are a no-no too. That leaves you, Kurama."

"I have a pet. The phoenix who gave me the tears and tail feather for my wand. Or…demon phoenix would be more precise. He's waiting for me in the Makai." Kurama pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is a problem. Hiei, you're the only one without a pet…"

"Shut up. I refuse."

"Hiei…"

"NO."

Kurama let out a groan. Even he couldn't get Hiei to do something after he had totally decided not to. "Fine. Be that way. I'll take care of him."

"Wow, Kurama; you certain about that?" Yusuke asked uncertainly.

"He will mostly be taking care of himself anyway…besides, I'm the one most fitted for keeping up the act of a pet owner, am I not?" Kurama didn't look pleased, despite his words. "I'm sure Black won't be more trouble than he's worth."

"I believe that's what they call your 'famous last words'." Botan said cheerfully, earning a full on glare in her direction from the other three occupants of the room. She shrunk a bit and laughed nervously, waving her hands innocently in front of her face. "I was joking. Really! Joking!"

"Your words give me such confidence, Botan." Kurama said sarcastically, though not unkindly. "I'm sure Black will turn into some ultra-powerful beast we can't defeat and devour us all."

Botan blushed, looking away. "I didn't mean it that way…" Then she blanched. "An ultra powerful beast that you guys can't defeat. That's a scary thought."

There were sweatdrops all around, and a mutter of agreement from Yusuke.

"Come to think of it…I didn't expect these developments. What are we going to do for Yukina and Yusuke's wands?" wondered Kurama out loud, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Can't you give me a plain old stick off a park tree and let me fake magic by manipulating spirit energy?" Yusuke complained.

"No, Yusuke. You need to channel your energy through the wand, or it won't look convincing. You'll need a specially reinforced wand for that…so will Yukina." Kurama was thoughtful as he stared up at the ceiling vacantly. Then he snapped out of it and said, "For Yukina, I think sapphire and koorime tear gems with icefire tree wood as the outer layer will do…perhaps a bit of reinforcement with silver. Then her core can be…one of her hairs, obviously, and powdered tear gems…and a few of her tears in their liquid form. Those are all easy enough to come by with our resources…and for Yusuke, the outer layer can be…rhinestone and steel…and definitely some diamond…and the core will have to be one of his hairs, a tail feather from Puu…and a Thestral wing scale. Hmm…I get to make that all, splendid…"

"Why don't you just go back to that shop in Knockturn Alley?" Hiei asked, stifling a large yawn.

"Because Hiei. Not only will it take two months for completion, but I don't want to. I was lazy last time, but this time…making it would be simpler." Kurama abruptly reached over and yanked one of Yusuke's hairs off his head, causing the half-breed to yelp and fall off the couch.

Swearing angrily, Yusuke reemerged. "You'll have to fix that floor." He had accidentally broken through the floorboard. Kurama let out an impatient sigh.

"I wish you wouldn't break apart the house. Next time, you'll be boarding it up yourself." Kurama said. "I need a tail feather from Puu by tomorrow morning, along with some diamond, steel and rhinestone. I'll leave up the methods of acquiring the last three to you. Hiei, you can find me the Thestral wing scale…I only need one…and sapphire for Yukina. I'll provide the icefire tree, and I'm sure I have some of Yukina's tear gems in liquid and solid forms somewhere in the castle…I'll find it somehow. That leaves Yukina's hair, and she herself can give me one when she arrives here tomorrow afternoon."

"Yukina's coming! What the hell?! Why wasn't I told?!" demanded Yusuke in shock. "You people never tell me anything anymore!"

Hiei, likewise, seemed to have not been aware, since he gave Kurama killer glare (which the silverhead shook off easily, being used to it).

"You weren't told, Yusuke, because I heard from Koenma just earlier this evening. Yukina's lonely, it seems." Kurama stood up and stretched. "I have other matters to attend to. Let me get our covers straight, before going to bed. There will be no mentioning our demon heritage, Yusuke, and no threatening Harry or any other wizards, Hiei. Do not drop hints for fun, and do not drop hints on accident either; I know all of you are plenty intelligent. As far as any humans know, all of us are a normal group of human friends who live together solely because we find big groups more interesting to be with…do not laugh, Yusuke."

Yusuke let out a giggle. "Sorry, Kurama…but you're telling us we're supposed to be one big, happy, dysfunctional family? Oh, sure…like that'll happen…"

Hiei picked up a nearby cushion and threw it at Yusuke. The half-demon dodged just in time. The cushion sailed through the air and smashed into the far wall, causing cracks in the plaster.

"Hiei, I just finished telling Yusuke not to break apart the house!" Kurama threw his hands up in exasperation. "What's the use? I'm going to go sleep now…I don't care if we're attacked, you guys deal with it. If one person other than Botan walks into the room tonight, expect to die of natural causes."

To others, it might have sounded vaguely like a foolish joke, but Yusuke and Hiei got the true meaning loud and clear.

Hiei stood up as well, his hands in his pockets. "Yusuke, if you prank me tonight, I will have your hide. I don't give a damn if it's you or God that walks into the room before eight tomorrow; I will set the dragon on you. In fact…I'd like it if God walked in." Hiei grinned, picturing Koenma burning. "Have an unpleasant night." He breezed out of the room, disappearing so quickly that not even Kurama could quite keep up with his movements. If there was one advantage Hiei had over any other opponent, it was speed. He could outrun Kurama, Yusuke, Mukuro…you name them.

"Well, I will be turning in now as well. Good night, Yusuke. Botan, are you…?"

"I'll be up as soon as I'm done cleaning up a bit around here, darling. Good night, Yusuke!" Botan chirped, disappearing into the kitchen a bit beyond the living room.

"Night, Kurama…were you serious when you said you don't care if we're attacked?" Yusuke asked.

"Naturally; you and Hiei are more than enough to take down a Lower S class." Kurama marched off in the direction of the stairs.

Yusuke made a face and followed.

The next morning, Harry woke up, refreshed and warm. He didn't recognize his surroundings for a split second, but then the previous evening's events came back to him and he let out a contented, blissful sigh. He was with his uncle Kurama…a wizard…who actually liked Harry to some extent…

Harry couldn't have asked for more.

Glancing at the digital clock on his bedside table, Harry saw that it read '9:45 A.M.' Well…he had slept in a bit. Hoping his aunt and uncle wouldn't mind, Harry quickly dressed and washed, and stepped out of his room.

The first thing which greeted him was the sight of Yusuke in his boxers and nothing else, wandering out of his own room with a disheveled look to him. Harry's eyebrows shot up at the Asian looking man.

"Oh…ohiyo…I mean, good morning…" Yusuke muttered.

"Why aren't you wearing any clothes?" asked Harry curiously, staring down at Yusuke's blue and white striped boxers.

"Clothes…? Oh yeah…right…clothes. Don't tell Kurama…" Yusuke slammed his bedroom door again, obviously going to put on some of the mysterious 'clothes'. Shaking his head in both amusement and puzzlement, Harry made his way downstairs, managing to wander into a bathroom instead of the dining room once. When he entered the dining room, the smell of sizzling bacon and eggs filled his nostrils.

Kurama was already at the table, reading a book while sipping a cup of coffee, and Hiei was wolfing down bacon. Botan was somewhere in the kitchen, making more food.

Kurama glanced up as Harry sat down in the seat he had occupied the previous evening, and gave his nephew a smile. "Good morning, Harry. Did you have a pleasant night?"

"The best," agreed Harry enthusiastically. "I slept about as well as I do at Hogwarts after a Quidditch match. I didn't expect you guys to still be eating breakfast…you seem like the early rising types."

"Well…Hiei, Botan and I are early risers…but Yusuke isn't. We put off breakfast to around this time for him." Kurama replied. "Botan should almost be done making your portion…" As if on cue, the blue haired ferry girl pranced in with a plate loaded down with eggs and bacon. She put it down before Harry, looking pleased.

"I made bacon and eggs today! It's my first time, so you're allowed to spit it out if it doesn't suit your tastes." She glanced up as Yusuke trotted in, a pair of dark blue shorts and a white t-shirt. He was barefoot, unlike the others in the room. Botan scowled. "You're late again, Yusuke! Didn't I tell you to wear shoes?"

Grunting, Yusuke slid into the seat beside Harry. "Yeah, but I'm not in the mood." Botan let out an exasperated sigh and waltzed off, obviously to grab Yusuke's food.

"So…Harry," Yusuke drawled, "what do you want to do today?"

"Huh?" questioned Harry stupidly.

"You're stuck with me all day because everyone else has things to do." Yusuke answered.

"Oh…well…we don't need to really do anything…" Harry trailed off as Yusuke shot him an annoyed look.

"I'm not going to stick around in the house all day. Do you have anywhere you want to go? How about an amusement park? I'll drop you off at a friend's house if you want…heck, I'll take you to Japan if it'll keep you occupied!" Yusuke announced, grinning widely.

Kurama, not looking up from his book, interrupted. "Not Japan, Yusuke…you know Koenma would have a fit if you went there for a day and didn't do anything except for accompany Harry. You know how he's been begging you to clear up that area."

Yusuke let out a disappointed sound. "Oh yeah…sorry Harry, not Japan."

Harry was more concerned about something else. "Who's Koenma?"

"Yusuke's former boss," Kurama was the one to reply. "He used to work as a detective, of sorts, back in Japan. He was fired after almost getting killed, but Koenma still relies on Yusuke heavily to keep one area of Japan clear of criminals." Yusuke almost snorted. Kurama had messed up the facts a little bit, but most of it had been truth. This was why Kurama was one heck of a liar; he actually told the truth, but a veiled truth.

Hiei, likewise, seemed half-amused. _"Criminals, fox? Some of those apparitions are actually fairly peaceful."_

"_Yes, Hiei, but they're still breaking laws by being in the human world in the first place. We all decided that was an essential law years ago, remember?"_

They cut off the mental connection.

Botan walked back into the room, with Yusuke's food in one hand and her own in the other. "Here you go, you lazy bum. You'd better not be late for breakfast tomorrow, or there won't be any breakfast for you at all!"

Yusuke laughed it off, waving a hand dismissively. "You know you love me despite it all!"

Kurama's eyes shot up from the pages of his book. "I'm growing many new plants outside in the garden, Yusuke. I don't think they're the type you'd like much though…"

Harry stared at Kurama, wondering where that had come from. Why had Yusuke blanched such a pale white shade? Did he have an intense fear of flowers or something? He voiced his questions out loud, and Kurama let out a chuckle while Yusuke fumed.

"Well…it depends on what kind of flower, Harry. I doubt Yusuke would be afraid of a harmless daisy or a sunflower…but who knows? He just might be scared of roses."

Hiei rolled his eyes skywards, as if to say 'harmless my ass'. Even Botan looked faintly amused.

Yusuke, on the other hand, looked completely embarrassed. "I'm not scared of roses…or daisies…or sunflowers…except for the ones that have come in contact with you."

"_Yusuke, I said no hints!"_ Kurama's voice rang out in Yusuke's head.

"_Yeah, yeah…but it's an extremely little hint…it's not any bigger than the ones you've been dropping. You could always say you have a special knack with charming plants or something."_

"_True…but the hints I've been dropping, I already have plausible answers for."_

Yusuke cleared his throat nervously, and turned to Harry. "So…about our activities today…"

Harry blinked. "Well I was thinking we could go to an amusement park…if you don't mind…"

Yusuke grinned. "An amusement park it is!" He announced, and began on his eggs.


	3. Chapter Five and Six

Chapter Five: When Hogwarts Finally Lolls Around

The rest of the month passed by in a blur of parks, deliciously cooked meals, and enjoying himself immensely. Harry found that he had gained a few more kilograms in the little bit of time he'd spent with his aunt and uncle.

Yusuke's wife, Yukina, who was a gracefully beautiful young woman with light, turquoise-ish hair and ruby eyes, had arrived the second day, while Yusuke and Harry had been at an amusement park. She was, apparently, Hiei's younger twin sister, but her personality was nothing like the sour, red eyed man's. She was actually very sweet. Between her, Kurama, Botan and the ever-enthusiastic Yusuke, (and maybe Hiei too…he had begun to grow on Harry) it made it a rather sad affair to be leaving the large mansion Harry had begun to call home. For once, when it was time for Hogwarts to start up again, Harry felt sorry.

"Don't worry about it, Harry." Yusuke told him the evening before the Hogwarts Express was scheduled to arrive at King's Cross Station. "You'll see all of us around all year…we'll be teachers, after all."

The 'happy family' was sitting in the living room, with all the lights except for the fireplace off. Botan had ordered some butterbeer and firewhiskey from the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, and they were having a back to school party for Harry, with a large pumpkin pie Botan had baked.

"Yeah, but I won't be seeing you as much." Harry said half-gloomily, staring down at his butterbeer.

Botan laughed, patting Harry on his head. "So you're saying you'll miss us? That's very sweet and all, but I'm sure you're also eager to get back to your friends…am I wrong?"

"No…but this place feels like home now." Harry admitted. "I thought leaving Hogwarts for the Dursleys' was hard, but I think leaving here for Hogwarts might be harder. It's a choice between two good things."

Kurama chuckled softly, and set down his butterbeer on the coffee table. "I spoke to Professor Dumbledore, actually. He said that he wishes to speak to you directly after the Beginning-Of-The-Year Feast. The Headmaster is quite skilled at using a telephone for a wizard…though I do believe he was holding the receiver upside down."

"Oh…" Harry muttered. A thought struck him. "You know, if you're related to me on dad's side, then you're a pureblood wizard…right? How come you act so…"

"Muggle, you mean?" finished Kurama. "That's a good question. We do our cleaning by hand, we cook by hand, and we hardly use magic. That would be because…though each of us here except for you is pureblood, we respect muggles. We all believe that using magic for things we can do with our hands will just make us lazy and incompetent."

Harry nodded slowly. "That makes sense." He drank some of his butterbeer. "Hey, Uncle Kurama…what are you planning on teaching in Defense?"

"You'll have to wait and see, Harry. It's not fair to tell you before anyone else, is it? I can tell you, however, that I may be joining classes with Yusuke often."

"Oh yeah…Yusuke's teaching a combat class…" Harry muttered. He had forgotten, because it had only come up in conversation once.

Yukina smiled at Harry brightly. "He's a very good martial artist."

Yusuke puffed proudly at the praise, grinning widely. Hiei gave Harry an almost…pitying…look while Yusuke chattered on about all the tournaments he had won.

"Your entire student body lucked out," the red eyed man said, tipping a bit of firewhiskey down his throat. "With Yukina there to heal any broken bones, none of you should die from Yusuke's training."

Botan smiled. "Yusuke gets his harsh training methods from his old master. Still…just between you and me, Harry," Botan lowered her voice a bit, "you're even luckier that it's Yusuke teaching you combat and not Hiei or Kurama. I'm not sure if any of you would live through that kind of traumatic experience."

Yukina, from directly beside Botan, giggled a bit. "Onii-sama and Kurama-san both mean well most of the time…so does Yusuke."

Harry grinned half-heartedly. "Yeah…I suppose."

"When they're not ripping each others' heads off, that is," Botan said merrily.

Harry coughed. "Yeah…I could tell. Why do you all choose to live together if you argue so much, anyway?"

Botan looked delighted. "That's a very good question, Harry! You see, those three over there go together like…uh…triplets…" She looked mildly embarrassed at her poor comparison, but continued. "When one's somewhere, there's usually at least one of the other two around too, if not both. They take turns being the pillar of assembly. This time, it's Kurama. We're all here because he wanted to come to England to take care of you. Kurama came, so Hiei tagged along…and Yusuke couldn't bear to be left alone while there's stuff going on…and Yukina came along with Yusuke because he refused to leave her behind…and I'm here because Kurama wanted me to be." Botan spoke with increasing rapidness, to such a point that Harry felt slightly dizzy from trying to follow along.

"Oh…okay?" Harry murmured.

Botan, however, wasn't done. "Now Jin will be around in a bit because he was feeling bored at home, and Touya will obviously be close behind to keep Jin out of trouble, and Chuu will tag along just for the heck of it, and Rinku goes wherever Chuu is, and Shishi will follow out of pure boredom, and Suzuka will come too because he needs Shishi to keep on telling him he's beautiful. Then Mukuro will march on over and attempt to kill all of us for leaving her with all the paperwork, and Yomi won't be pleased that his former kingdom has been abandoned by its ruler so he'll come and try to yell some sense into Kurama, and obviously Shura will come with his father, and Koenma will appear out of nowhere one of these days to yell at us, and occasionally my friend Ayame drops by to give me messages and such… That's basically the end of it."

During Botan's rapid-fire speech, the other occupants of the room had begun listening in. Hiei shuddered a bit at the mention of Mukuro, and Kurama had a coughing fit the moment Yomi's name was mentioned. Yusuke looked a bit sour when Koenma's name came up.

In the past month, Harry found that the names 'Mukuro', 'Koenma', 'Jin', 'Touya', 'Chuu' and 'Yomi' came up a lot. When asked, Kurama merely replied that they were family friends, and that Harry would meet all of them in due time. 'Suzuka', 'Shishiwaka-something or another', 'Rinku', and 'Shura' were also mentioned now and again, but not as much as the previous six names. From what Harry could tell, Shura was the Yomi person's son, and the rest were more friends…though they weren't as close to the family as…say…Chuu or Touya.

"I heard there were ghosts at Hogwarts, Harry." Yukina chirped brightly. "What kind of ghosts are they, I wonder? Are they all very friendly?"

"Some of them are…but Peeves the Poltergeist is a pain…and the Bloody Baron is just creepy," responded Harry helpfully. "I like Nearly Headless Nick…the Gryffindor ghost the best, and the Fat Friar of Hufflepuff isn't too bad. I've never spoken to the Grey Lady…but I hear she's all riddles and no answers, so it's hardly worth it."

"Sounds like your kind of person, eh Kurama?" Yusuke joked.

"_Actually, Yusuke…I was never a big fan of riddles. Before I became Shuuichi, I used to murder some select victims for talking to me in riddles."_

"_Okay…let's forget that…" _Yusuke smiled half-enthusiastically and excused himself from the inward conversation by taking a long draught of firewhiskey. He emerged again, spluttering at the strong taste. Botan thumped him on the back as he choked.

Harry's eyebrows rose, but he didn't comment. He had found that Hiei, Yusuke and Kurama…and occasionally Botan…seemed to have some sort of strange language only they knew. Both Hiei and Yusuke would sometimes look embarrassed at nothing, while Kurama sometimes looked superior or irked for no reason. Yukina seemed to be used to it, as she never reacted to it…but then again, she could have been in on the secret but didn't really participate in it.

"Come to think of it, how's a ghost 'nearly headless'?" asked Yusuke once he had recovered from his coughing fit. "I mean…there's headless ghosts and ghosts with heads, but I've never seen any that are 'nearly headless'."

It was not Harry, but Botan who answered. "Ghosts usually appear in the state they died in, Yusuke. If a ghost is 'nearly headless', then that means they suffered a fatal blow which almost chopped off their head, but not quite, and they died in the 'nearly headless but not quite' state…which means they came back as a 'nearly headless ghost'."

Yusuke muttered something under his breath that sounded vaguely like 'you would know'. Harry nodded along with Botan.

"Yeah…Nick got his neck chopped off by a blunt ax that didn't really do the job right, since it took forty-five hacks…and not only that, but Nick's head still hangs onto his body by a string of flesh this," Harry showed the distance with his forefinger and thumb, "thin. He's gets pretty upset about it too."

Yukina looked half horrified, half intrigued. "That's terrible…they should have at least sharpened their ax first…it must have been unbearably painful."

"Hey, don't worry about it. Another one of the ghosts…I forgot his name, but he hangs around the downstairs kitchens…well he had a butcher knife halfway through his throat, but he cast a healing spell on himself and the knife got stuck midway through his windpipe. He died like that. It's not pretty to look at…" muttered Harry, picturing the particular ghost in mind and shuddering absently.

Yukina turned pale and busied herself with filling Yusuke's mug of firewhiskey again.

Kurama stood up, drawing everyone's attention to himself. "Well, Harry…it's late, and I believe you haven't packed for Hogwarts yet?"

Harry blinked, remembering the mess of clothes and items piled in a corner of his room. "Oh yeah…I was having so much fun today that I completely forgot. I should go do that before bed."

"I will go with you and help. I'll be back down, Yusuke…and I'll know if you decide to spike my drink with something," warned Kurama as he ushered Harry upstairs.

Yusuke whistled innocently, his hand whipping out of his pocket. "Uh…right. I wasn't planning on doing that…it's horrible of you to suspect me…"

Kurama quirked an eyebrow at the demon, but then disappeared around the doorway.

Harry stared dismally at the large pile of belongings he had to sort through. "Uh…so…"

Kurama smiled slightly. "Yes…it will take a long time to go through by hand. Here, let's speed things up a bit." He took out his wand and flicked it. Immediately, the clothes and items flew up into the air. The clothes began folding themselves, while the school supplies and books floated in front of Harry.

Harry pointed out the ones he needed and the ones he didn't. They separated into two bundles; one bundle was neatly stacked into the base of Harry's trunk, and the rest arranged themselves in various spots on Harry's desk and inside it as well. Then the clothes floated by, and the same happened with them. It was all finished in barely five minutes.

"There, you can go to sleep now. One of us will wake you around nine tomorrow morning…that will give us ample time for last minute preparations, breakfast and a slow ride to King's Cross." Kurama shut the lid of the trunk. "Where's Hedwig gone?"

"I think she's gone out hunting again. I haven't seen her around much lately. I suppose it's because she's had so much freedom. Oh well, she should be back by tomorrow morning at the very least," answered Harry. "Thanks for the help, uncle."

A smile flickered over Kurama's face. "You're very welcome, Harry. Listen…Hiei, Yukina and I am going to take a different route to Hogwarts, but Yusuke and Botan will be on the train with you. Make sure they don't end up making a big mess of things."

Harry frowned a bit. "Why aren't you going to come on the train too?"

"Well…I haven't finished up my remaining work. I'm in charge of 1/3 of a country…I need to keep things organized. Unlike Hiei or Yusuke, I can actually find one treaty from a stack of several hundred." Kurama murmured. "I apologize…but I'll be back in time for the feast, or at least midway through it. So in any case, good night…I'll see you in the morning." As Harry settled into his bedcovers, Kurama flicked off the light and strutted out. He walked down into the living room…and just in case, put up a sound barrier in the living room doorway, just so that any noise wouldn't wake Harry up.

"Yo, Kurama; is the runt asleep?" Yusuke yawned, stretching his arms lazily.

"I don't appreciate you calling him that. Harry is asleep. Koenma should be here soon…" As if on cue, there was the slightest of hissing noises and Koenma popped up in the seat next to Yukina, with a disheveled looking Sirius Black landing in a heap on the floor.

Koenma, in teenager form, waved. "Yo, Koenma's here! I brought Black, as promised."

Sirius straightened himself up, shaking a bit of dust out of his hair. "Damn it, Koenma! You didn't have to drop me." He saw the many faces staring at him, and grinned weakly. "Ah…hey there…I suppose it's my first time meeting you all formally. The name's Sirius Black."

Kurama nodded in acknowledgment. Though Sirius had often seen and heard either Kurama, Yusuke or Hiei conversing with Koenma and occasionally James, he had never actually spoken to one of them. Undoubtedly, Sirius already knew all about them from James' constant chatter, and he had met Botan already while being taken from the Makai to Reikai.

"Hey there, bud. You know, I've talked to you before, but I've never really formally introduced myself either. I'm Yusuke, that's Hiei, and he's Kurama. If you want full names, it's Yusuke Mazoku Urameshi, Hiei the Jaganshi, and Youko Kurama. The two girls are Yukina of the Koorime and Botan Reikai." Yusuke shrugged. "It seems you're going to be our pet for a while."

Sirius coughed into one hand. "I'd prefer it if you didn't call me a pet, actually. I'm still human, you know."

"Sure, sure, whatever you say!" Yusuke waved it off. "So, buster, Koenma should have told you…what animal did you decide on becoming for a while?"

Sirius looked nervous, for some reason. "Well…a fox."

Yusuke looked like Sirius had just told him there were gigantic, hairy posteriors raining down from the sky. "A fox, you say? I don't remember including that in your list of choices…damn, Kurama persuaded you!"

"No…I decided on my own. Wolves will be feared…and there's no way a coyote would be allowed as a pet. A small fox won't be too bad; as long as the staff is assured I'm bred for house-life." Sirius looked offended as he said this.

"As teachers and not students, it should be fine to have a few pets not on the list. Koenma, did you bring Puu and Aurum?" Kurama asked calmly.

Koenma rolled his eyes. "Well duh. I shrunk down both of them…otherwise; there was no way they would fit in this little house. I still don't get how you talked a demon phoenix, of all things, into becoming your pet Kurama."

Said silverhead just shrugged as a way to reply. "I didn't…he came to me. I suppose he liked me some."

The ruler of Reikai just sighed and snapped his fingers. Two birds appeared out of thin air, fluttering about the room half-nervously. A much smaller version of Puu landed on Yusuke's shoulder, giving out a sound of greeting.

"Hey there…you're almost as small as you were back when you first hatched!" Yusuke patted Puu's head. "This really brings back memories…"

The other phoenix, meanwhile, was resting on the arm of the chair Kurama was seated in. It was a black phoenix with similar looks to Puu; they were, after all, both demon phoenixes…but this phoenix had small streams of gold in its feathers. It stared around the room with intelligent, red eyes.

"It looks like school starts up tomorrow. I'll lay down three rules for you guys. 1) Don't kill if you don't have to. 2) Make sure the wizarding world doesn't become aware of demons…they don't know anything about the four worlds or demons, and I'd like it to stay that way. 3) Don't get yourselves killed."

"We'll keep that in mind, Koenma. You've already given Black the ability to transform into a fox, correct?" Kurama questioned.

"A black fox," admitted Koenma. "He wouldn't hear of any other colour."

"So we get to keep his name, no? We'll continue to call him 'Black'." Kurama poked Hiei, in a show of rare immaturity. "You're not willing to change your mind about keeping up the façade of him being your pet?"

"How many times must I tell you?" growled the up till then silent Hiei.

Kurama sighed lowly. "In that case…Black, you have me as your pretend 'master'."

Sirius nodded. "I understand…Koenma made it so that my fox form is like an animagus form. I can shift from it, to my canine form, to my human form at will. When this entire mess is over, I can think of some amusing ways to spend my time with this."

Koenma cut in hastily, "Oh no you don't! I'm revoking that ability as soon as this is all settled!"

Sirius looked disappointed, but not too much so. He still seemed rather joyful at being alive again.

"Well, I'll leave him in your care…he'd better not die again…see ya!" Koenma disappeared.

"Black, fox form please. I got you a small dog bed. I am going to retire now…good night, everyone." Sirius flickered into the form of a small, black, sleek fox and followed Kurama as the latter walked out of the room. Yukina volunteered to stay behind and clear up, and the others headed up to their own rooms.

Morning came all too fast for Harry. It felt like he had just closed his eyes when Yusuke came bounding in, yelling about 'pancakes'. Harry checked the clock. As Kurama had said, it was precisely 9:00 A.M. Sighing, Harry climbed out of his bed and shoved Yusuke outside, so that he could get dressed.

Tidying up the room a bit so that he wouldn't have to bother with it when he came back the next year, Harry grabbed his trunk and rolled it down the stairs to the entrance hall. Leaving it there, he went to the dining room.

It seemed the reason Yusuke had been chattering about pancakes was because that was what they were having. Yusuke was stuffing two or even three down his throat at once without cutting them up. Hiei had overloaded his stack of pancakes with syrup to the point where Harry felt slightly nauseated looking at it. Botan and Yukina were chatting amicably while eating their own pancakes, and Kurama was reading that morning's edition of 'The Daily Prophet' while sipping coffee. His pancakes were almost untouched.

"Good morning," Harry greeted, sitting down in his usual spot. He received a few greetings back, and the sixteen year old started on his food. It wasn't too far into the meal when there was a loud crash, and a blue blur landed in the middle of the table, tipping over the jar of milk.

"Puu, you damn idiot!" Yusuke exclaimed, leaping up and snatching the…bird…off the table by its leg. "What the hell are you doing?"

'Puu'…or was it 'Poo'…in any case, the blue bird thingy let out a dejected sound, and fluttered to rest on Yusuke's head. Said man let out a huff of annoyance and settled back down, muttering about tiny blue retards.

Harry looked at the bird in astonishment. "Is that a phoenix?" He demanded to know disbelievingly. He had only seen one phoenix in his life, and that was Fawkes.

"Sure…phoenix…whatever…I thought phoenixes were supposed to be impressive…" Yusuke grumbled. "Ouch, you damn pipsqueak! Don't pull my hair!"

While Harry ogled, two more animals had joined the table.

"Hello, Aurum. Black," said Kurama calmly as Harry turned to stare at the black phoenix and fox. "Your food is on the kitchen counter…once you're done; pile the plates in the sink please."

The three animals went off in the direction of the kitchen, obviously going for the food.

"Hey…since when did you guys have pets? And I thought phoenixes were golden…and I didn't know foxes could be black!" Harry said.

"Puu's not my pet, he's my partner. Aurum is some random phoenix that dropped by and decided it liked Kurama…and Black isn't a pet, really. He's just around. Don't ask about their colouring. Koenma dropped them all off last night." Yusuke answered. He had gone back to eating 500 bites per minute.

It was far from a satisfactory answer, but it would have to do. Harry slowly picked up his fork again, and resumed eating.

Kurama stood up a few minutes later, with his empty plate in hand. "I think we should get going now, don't you think so Hiei?"

Hiei grunted and stood as well. Yukina seemed to take that as her signal, since she gracefully got up and pushed her chair in.

"Well Harry, we need to leave a bit earlier than you…but we'll see you at the feast. Until then…I hope you have a pleasant train ride. Make sure Yusuke doesn't break anything too expensive." Kurama waved a bit and after receiving a peck on the cheek from Botan, briskly walked out, with Hiei and Yukina trailing after him.

"We should start getting ready too. Come on Yusuke, no more food!" Botan grabbed Yusuke's plate as he attempted to continue guzzling. "I want you washed up and properly dressed in five minutes! Bring your things to the front hall. Get to it!" Botan whisked off with the plates, leaving Yusuke (who was, by the way, only half dressed) to slouch off to his room. Harry followed, so that he could do a final check of his things.

The group of three (plus a caged Hedwig and Puu who had returned to sitting on Yusuke's head) arrived at King's Cross station at a quarter to eleven. Harry, who hadn't been in a car with Botan at the wheel before, thought that he very much preferred Yusuke over Botan…thought Botan told him that if she hadn't done those crazy stunts, they wouldn't have arrived at the train station on time.

Yusuke went to retrieve a cart for Harry, and the group set off for the platform.

"You know, I've done a lot of stupid things in my lifetime…but running through walls was never on my list of 'to do' things." Yusuke grumbled irately. "I mean…I can tell it's a distortion in time and all…but that still doesn't make me any happier to be walking into it."

"Oh, stop being such a baby!" Botan snapped, and pushed Yusuke straight into the wall. He disappeared into it with a muffled shout of surprise.

"Come on, Harry…we shouldn't leave him alone for too long." Botan guided Harry through the wall as well.

Yusuke, on the other side, was sprawled on the ground. Beside him, Draco Malfoy was rubbing his backside, glaring daggers at the man.

"Watch it, scum!" Malfoy snarled, standing up and dusting himself off. "You shouldn't just go plowing into people like that!"

"Oh, boy…" muttered Botan anxiously. Yusuke, at the word 'scum', had turned a faint shade of red. "I hope he doesn't beat the poor boy up too badly…"

"You want to die, punk? Huh?" demanded Yusuke angrily, seizing Malfoy by the scruff of his collar and bringing the smaller male's face just a few centimeters from his own. Malfoy's feet were dangling a good bit off the floor. "For your information, it's your fault for being right beside the stupid gateway where people are bound to be coming through! Why don't you take your prissy ass somewhere where there won't be people with carts running through?"

"W-What…how dare you!" spluttered Malfoy indignantly. "Once my father hears of this…I'm a Malfoy!"

"Yeah, and I'm the Mazoku with big evil fangs! Just because you're a freaking pureblood doesn't mean you get to mess around with other people, you hear me? By the way, my family dates back a good thousand years before your first ancestor was even in his cloth diapers, so don't you dare screw with me!"

By then, a good crowd had gathered around the two. Harry spotted Lucius Malfoy shoving his way through, and muttered to Botan; "Damn, it's Malfoy Senior…"

"Oh, my…I really should stop Yusuke now…but I won't." Botan looked worried, but had a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Let's see what happens, eh Harry?"

"I demand you let go of my son at once," said Lucius' cool, clear voice loudly. He had his hand in his pocket, obviously ready to curse Yusuke as soon as he refused.

Yusuke was busy looking from Lucius to Draco, an interested look on his face. "Hey, waddaya know, like father like son! You're both slimy idiots!"

Lucius growled, and whipped out his wand. "I'd appreciate it if you'd unhand my son and apologize."

"I don't want to!" Yusuke stuck out his tongue childishly, with prompted Lucius into shooting a bright jet of red light out of his wand. Yusuke snorted, and brought out his own wand. He didn't need it…but he had to be convincing, no? Lucius' stunning spell collided with Yusuke's streak of red, and the two stunning spells cancelled each other out, both disappearing. Lucius' jaw dropped in shock at Yusuke's almost blinding reflexes.

"Look pal, you've just gone and PISSED ME OFF!" declared Yusuke, his fist heading directly for Lucius' head.

"Okay, and that's the round!" shouted Botan, quickly running in front of her friend. Yusuke let out an annoyed sound, dropping both Draco and his punch.

"What the hell, Botan? I was just about to…" Yusuke began, but was silenced when Botan gave him 'the look'.

"Yusuke, if Kurama found out about this…" Botan said warningly. Her comment made Yusuke turn a blue shade.

"I'd die very naturally. Yeah…I get your point…damn." Yusuke glowered at the two Malfoys. "Watch it, you two…next time I might not be as forgiving." He leaned down and straightened up the cart he had been pushing for Harry before the commotion. He wheeled it away, still fuming. Botan grabbed Harry's arm and followed. The crowd watched them with awe and confusion, while Lucius and Draco glared indignantly.

"That was awesome, Yusuke!" Harry cheered once they were out of hearing range. "I wish I had taken pictures!"

Yusuke snorted, looking mildly pleased. "Actually, there was this little kid at the front…he was busy snapping away with his camera the entire time. Maybe you know him. He was dressed all in Gryffindor colours."

"That must've been Colin Creevey…I'll have to ask him for some copies later." Harry spotted a flash of flaming red hair, and grinned. "Hey, it's the Weasleys!"

The family, plus Hermione, was waving at him enthusiastically. They had all obviously just seen the previous spectacle, since most of them had big grins on their faces. Ron and Mr. Weasley looked especially pleased.

"Hey, Harry!" Ron said once they had reached them. "That was bloody brilliant! Is this guy a friend of yours? Cause he's my new hero!"

Yusuke laughed, ruffling Ron's hair. "I'm a friend of Harry's uncle and aunt. I'm also your new combat professor, so you can call me Professor Urameshi." Yusuke was then swamped by an excited looking Mr. Weasley, who began giving him congratulations and praises. Even Mrs. Weasley looked pleased.

"It's good to see you again, mate," said Ron approvingly, slapping Harry on the back. "Is it just me, or are you…chubbier…?"

"You've gained a bit of weight! You're really looking great, Harry." Hermione gave Harry a hug. She glanced up at Botan curiously. "So who's this?"

"My aunt…" Harry trailed off, noticing Ron staring at Botan like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time. "Oh, hell…Ron…she's my aunt. My AUNT…! She's married to my UNCLE! Okay?"

Ron snapped out of it at that, and laughed sheepishly. "Yeah…sorry, I just haven't seen someone like her before. She's…gods, you're pretty…!" He addressed the last part towards Botan, who looked flustered.

"Oh…um…thank you for the compliment…" Botan said. "My name is Botan Reikai. I'm the assistant professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Hermione was eyeing Botan almost…with annoyance. Harry had a vague idea of what was running through her head. 'Pretty face' and 'airhead' were probably a part of her thoughts.

Mrs. Weasley joined into their conversation. "It looks like you kids will finally have a proper way to defend yourselves. He seems to be a fairly good duelist…" She nodded in Yusuke's direction.

"Actually, Mrs. Weasley…Yusuke's not teaching magic. He's the combat professor. Combat…as in muggle martial arts." Harry chipped in.

"Oh…is that so? I can't say I was very happy when it said in the letter that a new combat class was being started up at Hogwarts, but after seeing him take out Lucius Malfoy so easily, I think it may actually be a good idea." Mrs. Weasley murmured. "So who's this young lady?" She looked at Botan, and then the way Ron was eyeing her.

"She's my aunt. She's coming to Hogwarts as the assistant Defense professor." Harry repeated.

"How do you do, Botan Reikai's the name!" chirped Botan happily. "It's a pleasure to meet the famous Mrs. Weasley at last…Harry talks about you and your husband often."

Mrs. Weasley nodded hesitantly. "Yes…Harry's aunt…you're Kurama's wife, then?" She seemed to be running Botan through her inner 'person assessor'. Deciding that Botan, like her husband, was trustworthy, Mrs. Weasley cracked a smile. "The display your friend Yusuke put on was interesting to watch."

Botan looked solemn all of a sudden. "Yes…it was interesting…but I'm not sure what my husband will do to poor Yusuke once he finds out. Kurama won't be happy…"

Yusuke froze, overhearing. "Uh…right…" He waved off Mr. Weasley for a moment. "Do ya reckon he'll be merciful and give me a quick death, or will he torture me first?"

"Knowing him, he'll put you through seven hells first." Botan answered, strangely cheerful as she said this. Yusuke turned pale and muttered something about 'not meaning any harm'.

Ginny chose that moment to interrupt. "Hey, there's Neville and Luna." She pointed at the two, who were making their way through the throngs of students and friends towards them.

"H-Hey, Harry…Ron…Hermione…" Neville panted, straightening his shirt. "I was…with Gran…aw, heck, that was one great ass-whupping Malfoy got! It was hilarious…Gran was beside herself laughing. Could you guys introduce me to him?" Neville nodded towards Yusuke, who was still looking like doomsday had arrived.

Luna adjusted her large, strangely coloured hat dreamily. "I think he's become half the school's hero with that one stunt."

"Y-Yeah, I can introduce you. Hey Yusuke, this is Luna Lovegood," Harry had to resist the temptation of saying 'Looney', "and Neville Longbottom. They're in my year, and they're both great." Yusuke looked up from Neville's ass (his eyes had darted down there as Harry said 'Longbottom') and nodded.

"Yo, kids. I'm your new combat professor, Yusuke Urameshi. I can kick, punch, and whop ass but I flat out refuse to slap or pull hair. I'm being Harry's bodyguard for the day, and I hate snobs like that Malfoy jerk and his idiot father." Yusuke announced. "You can call me Professor Urameshi, Mr. Urameshi, or just 'sir' would be fine too. I discipline with manual labor and I have a bit of a temper, as you saw already, so don't get on my bad side. I'm twenty three years old, married without kids, and sometimes use people that piss me off as punching bags. Is that a sufficient introduction, or do you want my condom size as well?"

Harry, who knew what a condom was, burst out laughing. Hermione glared at Yusuke disapprovingly, but still looked amused despite it. None of the others (minus Botan who was having a hard time not laughing) knew what the heck Yusuke was talking about.

"Uh…what's a…" Neville began, but was cut off by Hermione.

"You don't want to know Neville…I promise you that you don't want to know." She said gravelly, which sent Harry into another laughing fit.

Botan glanced at her watch. "Oh, we should get on the train…we have only a minute and a half left. Come on, Harry…Professor Dumbledore should have reserved the very last compartment for us…"

It was with a great deal of kissing (on Mrs. Weasley's part) and hugs that Ron, Ginny and Harry was seen off. Neville's grandmother appeared and wished her grandson luck for the next year, and reminded him to write. Xenophilius Lovegood gave his daughter the newest addition to the Quibbler and waved.

The group all climbed onto the train, just as its warning whistle blasted through the station. It started off a few seconds later.

"DON'T GET INTO DANGEROUS SITUATIONS AGAIN!" bellowed Mrs. Weasley as the train departed.

Chapter Six: Hogwarts…Finally!

Botan ushered the group of students and Yusuke to the back of the train, where the final compartment awaited them with an auto-locking charm on the door. Botan dug around in her dress pocket and came up with a slip of paper which read, in big block letters, 'Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus'.

She took out her wand and tapped the door with it, repeating the words written on the paper. With a click, the door slid open, allowing the group entry.

"One of the professors was supposed to lock the door with a special charm so that nobody else would go in," was Botan's quick answer for the several curious glances she received. "Come on, in!"

The compartment was the same as any other, except that it looked…bigger. There was obviously a space charm placed on the entire compartment, so that it could house more people.

Once they were all seated and comfortable, the chatter started up.

"I wonder who the new Defense professor is…" Neville mused out loud.

"Harry's uncle," responded Ron, half bored. In answer to Neville's googly eyed look, Ron said, "Apparently, he had an uncle and an aunt on his dad's side still left alive, and his uncle came looking for him sometime during the summer. Harry's been living with his uncle since…right Harry?"

"Yeah, somewhat," said Harry with a smile. "This is my Aunt Botan over here, Neville. She's going to be the Defense professor's assistant. My Uncle Kurama said he had to take care of other things before he came to Hogwarts, but he's the Defense instructor. Then we have Yusuke, who's the new combat professor, his wife Yukina, who's going to be the healer on Madame Pomfrey's days off, and her older brother Hiei…say, I never thought to ask…what's Hiei coming to Hogwarts for?" Harry asked Yusuke, puzzled.

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Well…a few reasons. The main one is that he would never leave Yukina and Kurama unprotected…though they kinda protect themselves…damn overprotective once-shrimp…the second reason is that Kurama asked him to…I think…and the third reason is to be a guard situated at Hogwarts. I heard there were auroras…or aurors…or whatever at Hogwarts already, but you know…extra precaution." Yusuke paused thoughtfully. "I don't get the point of all three of us being there…hey Botan, what do you think?"

"I suppose Koenma thought he should play safe," replied Botan casually.

Yusuke snorted. "Hell Botan, there's a thing as being 'too safe', you know."

"No there isn't, Yusuke." Botan stretched out her legs a bit. "By the way, you put Puu and Hedwig in the animal compartment, right?"

"Yeah, right before we got on…I didn't leave them behind in the station or anything stupid like that."

The train ride went on, with them all chatting about Hogwarts and their expectations of the new term. When asked about lesson plans, Yusuke just sniggered and Botan looked extremely amused. About halfway, the sweets trolley came around and Yusuke leapt for the candy. He bought everyone in the compartment their own little pile, and they set about eating it.

"Heck, this chocolate frog is good." Yusuke said through a mouthful of chocolate. When the frog had initially leaped out, he had been displeased enough to swear, but now he was just enjoying the chocolate frog leg.

"Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans…" read Botan aloud, shaking the box of jellybeans curiously. "It can't hurt to try one…" Despite the many looks of horror, Botan stuck a bean in her mouth.

"I didn't know you like chalk flavour, Botan." Yusuke commented as he ate a blue coloured bean of his own. At that, Botan spat out the bean right into Yusuke's face.

"Eurgh…warn me before I eat this kind of stuff! You knew what flavour it was, didn't you?"

"Well yeah, I mean it's not that's hard to figure out!" Yusuke wiped the bean and spit off his face, using a conveniently nearby tissue.

"You can tell what flavour they are?" asked Harry interestedly. He picked up a bean. "What's this?"

"That one's jalapeño pepper; unless you like the sensation of having your tongue on fire, I wouldn't eat that." Yusuke answered. Harry tentatively bit off a bit of the bean, and immediately spat it back out into his hand. Yusuke looked smug. "What did I tell you?"

"How can you tell?" demanded Ron disbelievingly. "There's no smell about them or anything!"

"Well…actually, when the beans are packaged, they don't usually have a flavour…only a colour. Each person has tasted different things, and if the bean is…say…ketchup flavoured, but the eater hasn't ever tasted ketchup before, then how's he supposed to know what flavour it is? Are you guys following?" Yusuke paused, and waited for everyone to nod before continuing in his little explanation. "So what the beans do is detect a bunch of flavours…random ones…the eater has already tried, and as the bean passes into the eater's mouth, the bean gains a flavour that corresponds with the colour the bean is. Every bean is usually one shade of a colour originally, but it darkens or lightens a bit depending on what kind of flavour it's turned into. I can tell because I can see the colour difference and match it up with a food. It's impossible to know until it's halfway to someone's mouth, since it won't change colours till then."

"I think I might understand…" Hermione said slowly. "But that doesn't explain how you pick out the ones that are good to eat. You've been eating beans this entire time, and you didn't look disgusted even once."

"Oh, that's the easiest part. If you vision the flavour you wand clearly in your mind, the bean will pick up that first thing and turn into that flavour…but the food has to be the same colour as the bean. It would be impossible to come up with a chalk taste from a green bean…unless, of course, the chalk you tasted was green…but for that to work, you have to have tasted chalk in the first place. Am I making sense? Cause this is really complicated."

Hermione turned a yellow bean in her hand thoughtfully. Then she popped it in her mouth, and looked delighted shortly afterwards. "Mm…you're right, I just got curry. I suppose the beans have a sort of one-subject legilimency spell on them?"

Yusuke gave her thumbs up. "Bingo! I don't think these would usually be allowed…but since it's just a one-subject kinda thing, it must be being overlooked by the food inspection bit of the government."

"Wow, you actually figured all this out," Botan said, impressed. "I change my view on you, Yusuke."

"I'm not Kuwabara, Botan." Yusuke snapped. He looked strangely weary all of a sudden.

"Who's Kuwaba…?" Harry began. He hadn't heard that particular name before.

Botan hastily cut in. "O-Okay…uh…what are these?"

Hermione, detecting Yusuke's sudden change of mood, answered. "People Pasties! They talk…"

Harry watched Yusuke closely as the man sighed deeply and took to staring out the window gloomily. Botan was glancing at him every now and then almost…anxiously. Had this…Kuwabara person been a close friend to them…? Was he…?

The rest of the ride passed by with a much heavier atmosphere than before, with Yusuke hardly talking at all. When he did, he snapped coldly or answered in a quiet, monotonous voice. It was the first time Harry had seen Yusuke like this.

"H-Hey, come on, time to change!" Hermione said shrilly, looking relieved. The boys walked out for a bit to let the girls change, and once they were done; the boys went in while the girls stayed out.

The boys all changed with their backs to each other, to give each other some privacy. Harry, deciding that Yusuke was being a bit too moody, said quietly, "Hey…Yusuke…who was this Kuwabara person?"

He knew he was pushing it…and he didn't expect Yusuke to answer. When he did, Harry was fairly surprised.

"Kazuma Kuwabara, the greatest known idiot to have ever been born…he was a big oaf with orange hair in the geekiest hairdo ever. He was a fairly good swordsman, though nothing compared to Hiei. He and I used to get on each other's nerves a lot…we used to beat each other up a whole lot."

Harry didn't get it…why was Yusuke so sad then? It sounded like Yusuke really hated Kuwabara…but his tone was affectionate.

"So…what happened to him?"

"He died." It was said shortly and without any emotion. The others had stopped changing to listen in as well. "Kuwabara died…years ago. His stupid honor code…You know, we used to be a group of four. Hiei, Kurama, me 'n' Kuwabara…but he went and died, and we ended up as a group of three. He should have just taken Koenma's offer…what about human morals, the stupid…" Yusuke continued muttering angrily, but the rest was said so quietly that nobody could quite hear.

The girls were soon let back in. Everyone but Yusuke and Botan were wearing black. Botan had chosen out deep blue, silk robes and had left her hair free. She had a blue hat perched on her head, and looked positively delighted at her outfit. Yusuke was wearing dark green robes, and was hatless.

He cheered up a lot in the little bit of time that took for them to fully arrive at Hogwarts. By the time they climbed off the train, he was himself once more. It must have been the festive spirit around him.

"Anyway…Botan and I are going around a different way, or we're not going to be seated by the time all the students arrive. We'll see you later, Harry!" Yusuke waved, and dragged Botan off in the opposite direction of the carriages.

Harry shook his head in amusement and climbed into a carriage with Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Neville and Luna went with two Ravenclaws in a different carriage.

"Hey, I just realized! Malfoy didn't bug us during the train ride…" Ron said, sounding amazed. "It must've been Yusuke and that guy we met in Diagon Alley…Hiei, right? They scared him off! Hah!"

Harry grinned widely. "Yeah…my uncle and his friends are all really awesome…I bet the entire school's gonna be talking about how our new professor almost beat up Malfoy and his father…"

Harry's prediction turned out to be true, since the entire Great Hall was chattering with the news of the events at the train station. There were many glances at the smug looking Yusuke up at the staff table. He was sitting beside Hagrid towards his right and an empty chair to his left. Botan had empty chairs on either side of her, but Dumbledore was sitting towards her left one chair away. There was another empty chair beside Madame Pomfrey, near the end of the table.

"Looks like Hiei, Yukina and Uncle Kurama aren't here yet…" Harry muttered anxiously, scanning the hall. "You don't think something happened, do you? Voldemort's back and all…"

"Don't worry about it, Harry. They should be here in a bit." Hermione said soothingly.

"Hey, Snape looks like he's in a really bad temper. I don't think it's just because he didn't get the Defense position again." Ron said loudly. Harry peered over at the greasy haired professor, and found that indeed, he looked like he had just drunk the juice of a particularly sour lemon.

"What's gotten into him?" wondered Harry. He received two shrugs in response.

The entire hall quieted as McGonagall marched in with a line of first years and the Sorting Hat on a stool. She set down the hat and the stool, and waited as a rip at its seam opened up and said in a loud, booming voice;

"It may be customary, but this is no time for song. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back and kicking and you must all be aware. I will sing no more riddles, instead I will tell you clearly. Unite against him, or all else will fail! We will forever live in fear and death if he has his way! Forget your petty differences…I may be the Sorting Hat, but I do not approve of this entire sorting business. Now get on with this foolish sorting!" The hat fell silent.

One could have heard a pin drop in the following stillness. The older years were glancing at each other in shock. Even the teachers, minus Yusuke and Botan, looked utterly perplexed. None of them, apparently, had heard the hat just…talk at the beginning of the year.

McGonagall was quick to recover, since she cleared her throat and loudly began calling out names. The new first years were sorted, until there were no more left. McGonagall whisked off with the hat and stool in tow, and then Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome to the new year, students! It is a pleasure to see us all well and back at Hogwarts. I'm sure you're all eager to get to your food," there was a collective groan of agreement throughout the hall. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "but I'm afraid it will have to wait a little bit longer for this old man's ramblings. Now…as older students know, the Forbidden Forest is off boundaries to all students without the guidance of a teacher. Some of us needed reminding." Everyone knew who Dumbledore was talking about. Eyes flickered over to Harry. "All shop items from the new sensational joke shop 'Weasleys' Wizard Wheezies' has been banned. I am pleased to announce that all educational degrees set down last year have been revoked." There was cheering from all tables but Slytherin at this.

Dumbledore straightened up a bit more. "Quiet, please…thank you. As you were all informed in your school letters, we have added a new hand-to-hand combat class to our curriculum. This class is mandatory, as the growing threat of Lord Voldemort is not something to be taken lightly. Our instructor for that, Professor Yusuke Urameshi, will be guiding you all during that." Yusuke stood up and waved. There was loud cheering and clapping from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. They had all, apparently, heard of Yusuke's…stunt.

"Our Defense Against the Dark Arts position has, once again, needed a new professor. So we are very fortunate to be able to welcome Professor Botan Reikai, who will be the assistant professor in that subject this year." There were dog whistles all around the hall. Looking mildly embarrassed, Botan stood and gave a little bow. There was enthusiastic clapping. Dumbledore continued once the commotion had died down a bit. "She will be assisting her husband. For our full-time Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, we have Professor Youko Kurama here with us this year…it seems Professor Kurama somehow managed to sneak into the seat here without my noticing," Dumbledore commented, waving a hand towards the seated Kurama next to him. All the girls sighed in unison over him. There were also a few surprised murmurs. It seemed nobody had noticed Kurama come in…the entire staff table was now full, with Hiei and Yukina in their seats as well.

"This year, Professor Kurama will be taking up the role of Slytherin's Head of House," announced Dumbledore calmly. There were a few seconds of stunned silence, and then a roar of cheering from mainly Gryffindor's table.

"No wonder Snape looks like that!" Ron said gleefully. "He hasn't only lost a chance at the Defense position, but he's had his Head of House privileges revoked too! Take that, you greasy…"

"Ron!" Hermione chastised, though she was actually smiling widely.

"QUIET, please!" Dumbledore said, his voice carrying magically over the uproar. He continued. "Our esteemed healer, Madame Pomfrey, is going to be taking days off during the week from now on. During those days, Mrs. Yukina Koorime-Urameshi will be taking her place." Yukina stood up and smiled brightly at the hall of students. She sat back down as Dumbledore went on. "Due to Lord Voldemort's return, we have tightened security around the castle. The Ministry of Magic has sent in aurors for protection, but we have one more special guest. Please welcome Mr. Hiei Jaganshi, who will be the Head of Guard this year. He is on loan to us from the Reikai Ministry of Magic, and is a very valued auror. Please welcome him into our midst warmly. Now, I have just four final words to say!" He let out a few guttural sounds, and then announced cheerfully; "Enjoy the feast!"

Magically, food appeared on the table. Everyone dug in happily.

"I think his words were in Gobbledygook, but I can't be sure…" Ron said through a mouthful of chicken.

Hermione, meanwhile, had noticed something else she found interesting. "I've never heard of a country called Reikai…"

"Even you must have things you don't know, Hermione," said Ron, helping himself to some potatoes.

"I know…but that's not what's bugging me. Harry, your aunt's last name…"

Harry looked up, startled. "Oh, that? She told me that she never changed her last name when she got married to Uncle Kurama, so she still has the same last name. She also said that Youko is more of a title, and Uncle Kurama's real last name is Minamino or something like that."

"Not that, Harry! Her name is Professor Botan Reikai. Their country's name is Reikai." Hermione stressed.

Ron's jaw dropped, showing a nice view of chewed up food in his mouth. "You're not saying she's royalty or something right?"

"Ew, Ron, close your mouth…" Hermione muttered. Once Ron had done so, she went on. "Yeah, I think she may be…she doesn't act like it…I think she may be a part of fallen royalty. Maybe her family was overthrown."

"Or maybe her family wasn't, and she's a princess." Harry offered, swallowing his pumpkin juice. "That's a possibility too."

"True…" Hermione muttered off-handedly. "I don't get why she would marry Professor Kurama then…"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you…my uncle's a lord." Harry said. Receiving a few gapes, he said, "He, Yu…Professor Urameshi and Hiei all run a country together. They each have 1/3 of the country to take care of…I think the country was called Makai, or something like that…so it kinda makes sense, right?"

"That's…" Hermione shook her head. "I'll need to look those two countries up…I've never heard of them…"

Harry looked at Ron, who rolled his eyes.

"Yeah…I think it's the library for us…already…" Ron muttered into Harry's ear.

After the meal, everyone was heading up to their common rooms, when Harry suddenly remembered. "Oh yeah, I was supposed to meet Professor Dumbledore in his office…! Sorry you guys, I'll get to bed later."

"We're not waiting up for you!" Ron called after Harry as he sprinted away. The green eyed wizard waved in acknowledgment as he headed for Dumbledore's office.

Dumbledore, meanwhile, was at his desk. Lupin, Tonks, and Moody were gathered in the office, waiting for Harry. Dumbledore hoped the boy had been told and remembered.

It was then that there was a timid knock at the door. Lupin reached over and opened it, allowing a startled looking Harry into the room.

"Wotcher, Harry?" Tonks winked. Her hair was a bright shade of magenta that night.

"Oh, hi…why's everyone gathered here?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Why, we're waiting for you, my dear boy!" Dumbledore answered merrily. "Sit, sit…" Harry sat down on the only available chair, his face reflecting his curiosity.

"What's going on, professor? Did I do something wrong?" asked Harry uncertainly.

"Not at all, Harry…we just want to know how your summer was." Lupin said pleasantly, patting Harry on his shoulder.

Harry grinned widely, remembering. "It was the greatest! I had the most fun in my entire life! My aunt and uncle are great…and Yusuke is real fun…Hiei starts to grow on you after a while, and Yukina is really nice."

"You should call him Professor Urameshi, Harry." Dumbledore told the student wisely. He turned grave. "You do not think they are…untrustworthy? They don't do anything suspicious or unexplained?"

Harry frowned deeply. "Suspicious? Not really…unexplained? Well…Yusuke does a lot of random things, and Hiei has a tendency to pop up in the weirdest places…but nothing else."

Dumbledore leaned forward a bit, his expression solemn. "You see, Harry…we of the Order have a problem. It seems Lord Voldemort has managed to gather…extremely powerful allies. According to Professor Snape, they each have untold of power, and can slaughter thousands of wizards using just one hand. They take on the form of humans, but actually aren't."

Harry's eyes widened. "That's…"

"Yes, it is a very large problem. We haven't been able to get much information besides that."

"Why? Can't Snape just tell you more?"

"Professor Snape, Harry…but no, sadly he can not. These new allies speak only with Lord Voldemort himself, and hardly show themselves…even to him. So we were wondering…" Dumbledore paused.

"Wondering what?" Harry questioned.

"If you believe them to be totally trustworthy and not suspicious at all…the Order desperately needs new allies as well. We were thinking of asking Professor Kurama and his friends to join. They all seem highly skilled. I heard of Lucius Malfoy's embarrassing loss against Professor Urameshi at the train station. If they are all as good as that, then we will have a small chance against Lord Voldemort's new friends." Dumbledore admitted. "But we will only ask them with your permission…I know how hard it would be for you if you had to go through another death of a close one…"

Harry was silent. "I didn't think you would ask them so soon…I mean…you haven't even confirmed their trustworthiness…is it really that bad?"

"You couldn't imagine, Harry…you couldn't imagine." Dumbledore shook his head wearily.

Harry nodded slowly. "In that case…it's not my place to decide if Uncle Kurama will join the Order or not. He has free will too."

Dumbledore smiled faintly. "Ah, a noble answer. In that case, I will ask them on Halloween Eve, after waiting to check on their loyalties."

Harry bobbed his head in agreement.

"You should go back to bed now, Harry…there's an entire day of lessons tomorrow, and I heard Professor Urameshi is quite the strict discipliner." Dumbledore shooed Harry out, and after shutting the doors behind the jade eyed young wizard, went back to his desk.

Moody, whom had been strangely quiet the entire time, took out a flask from the depths of his cloak and drank deeply from it. Coughing hoarsely, he said, "Do you think we should keep a close eye on those new teachers of yours, Albus? It isn't a good thing to trust so much at first glance."

Dumbledore arched his fingers and leaned forward a bit. "Yes, keeping a 'close eye' on them seems to be the best course of action, if you will excuse the pun Alastor. I presume you will be able to keep your magical eye trained on Mr. Hiei Jaganshi for me, during your time stationed here at Hogwarts?"

Moody chuckled darkly. "Oh, I can do that…and much more too, but I'll stay with just observing."

"What about us, Albus?" Tonks piped up eagerly.

"Hm…Remus, if you would keep with Professor Urameshi…and Tonks; you have Mrs. Koorime-Urameshi."

Lupin's brow furrowed. "That leaves Professor Kurama…what are you planning, Albus?"

"Oh, nothing much…I think I will divide Professor Kurama between Minerva and myself. He seems to be a slippery customer." Dumbledore smiled fleetingly. "Remus, Tonks, Alastor…I am counting on you."

"Yessir, whatever you say!" Tonks exclaimed, mock-saluting the headmaster.

"Of course, Albus," murmured Lupin.

Moody was the only one who didn't reply, choosing only to nod once.

"Well then, a good night to you all!" As one, the three stood and marched out, leaving Dumbledore alone.

_He was running, whizzing through the trees, paying no heed to the branches which whipped into his face and clothes, leaving cuts and red lash marks. He turned around occasionally, aiming spells at his hooded pursuers. Twisting to the side to avoid a jet of green shot at him, he ran into a clearing in the forest._

_He glanced around curiously, and found the clearing familiar. Was he in the Forbidden Forest? He was close to where he had first met the centaur Firenze, during that detention five years ago._

_There was a movement behind him. Tensing, he spun around. There was a group of Death Eaters standing there, Voldemort in the middle. He brought up his wand, about to shoot a disarming spell at them, but Voldemort was faster by far. The Dark Lord's arm shot up at an amazing speed for a human, and blasted the wand out of his hand._

_He backed up, away from the Death Eaters and the cruelly sneering Voldemort. He found that the Death Eaters that had been pursuing him had caught up, and were blocking his way out of the clearing. His mind was racing, trying to find some way to get out of there._

_There was no way. He was completely trapped, defenseless._

"_Now you DIE, Harry Potter!" Voldemort hissed, and raised his wand again._

_A new voice filled the clearing…Harry recognized it, but couldn't quite place it…_

"_WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, YOU GOD DAMNED FOX?!"_

_A fox…? Where? Harry vaguely wondered what a fox was doing in the Forbidden Forest. Foxes were one of the few kinds of animals not living in the forest._

"_FOX-BOY….! OI! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!"_

_Harry felt someone grab him. Warm arms shielded him protectively, blocking Harry from the Death Eaters' line of fire._

_Harry glanced up confusedly. He saw emerald eyes …and a gentle smile._

_Harry's eyes widened as he saw six streaks of green…the killing curse…whap into his savior. Harry's savior glowed an eerie green shade, and then he stumbled backwards, collapsing onto his knees and then onto the forest floor._

_A high, despairing scream overloaded with unbearable agony pierced through the air, and someone roared a name loudly._

_A name…Harry couldn't quite make out the name…what was it that the shouter was saying? Ku…Kur…ama…Kurama?_

_Dread filled his entire being as Harry glanced down, and saw that indeed, it was his uncle that had just died…died to save Harry._

_He knelt down beside his uncle's still form, horrified beyond words. If this was Kurama, then the shouter could only be Hiei…and Yusuke had yelled something earlier too…_

_Of course, the screams resonating through the air belonged to Botan._

_Hiei's shouts were growing in volume and angry horror._

"_Kurama…"_

"_Kurama…!"_

"_KURAAAAAAAAAAAMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…!"_

With a loud 'CRASH', Harry tumbled out of his bed, covered in a cold sweat.

Ron shot up, his eyes wide. "Where's the cannonball?" He asked stupidly, and then seemed to realize he wasn't being fired at. "Oh…what's up, mate? You look like a hippogriff just ran you over."

"I…I think…" Harry fumbled for words, reaching towards his bedside table for his glasses. "I think I just saw…my uncle get murdered by Voldemort…"

"YOU _WHAT_...!"

"I'm going to go speak to Dumbledore." Harry stood up, heaving his blanket back onto the bed.

Ron was still staring at Harry from the darkness. The other boys had begun to wake as well, disturbed by the commotion. "Y-You want me to go with you, Harry? This can't be good…"

"No, I'll manage on my own," said Harry firmly. "Go back to sleep, you're waking the others…" With that, he stumbled out of the dormitory.

After making his way past the gargoyle for the second time that evening, (the password was 'cream puffs') Harry found himself standing in Dumbledore's office…again…recounting his dream to the best of his memory.

"…and then…a bunch of killing curses flew into Uncle Kurama, and he glowed green…then he fell over and died." Harry forced down the hysteria he knew he was slowly reaching. "W-What should I do? I think this might have been an outline of Voldemort's plan…we need to do something!"

"Calm down, Harry." Dumbledore urged. "Here, have a piece of chocolate…good, now sit down…" Harry obeyed, sitting down and putting his head in his hands. Dumbledore walked out from behind his desk and knelt down beside Harry. "Now, Harry, you must listen to me closely. Professor Kurama must not know of this yet."

Harry lifted his head and stared at Dumbledore incredulously. "You're saying that we should leave things to fate and let my uncle die?" Harry stood up, his chair clattering to the ground. "This is my uncle we're talking about! He's the only relation that's ever…that's ever…" He trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished. _He's the only relation that's ever loved me…_

Dumbledore stared at Harry intensely. "Harry, I am fairly certain that this dream was not a glimpse into Lord Voldemort's mind. I doubt he would know about Professor Kurama and his friends so soon…it is only the first night of school, Harry. This must be a foretelling dream of some sort…but as you do not, most definitely, have the Sight, it must be a dream sent to you by someone. It must be someone who does have the sight, and had this very vision."

"The only person I know with the sight is Professor Trelawney, and she would've just come to you with the vision." Harry muttered. He didn't bother saying anything about Trelawney's extremely meager talent.

"True…it could have been someone who knows us, but we do not know them." Dumbledore said wisely.

"That sounds…" Harry began. It sounded too complicated for Harry to unravel at the moment.

Dumbledore sighed tiredly, and at that moment, Harry saw that he was nothing but a weary old man. An old man who had been robbed of the few brief periods of rest he could have before another day of whining ministry workers, organizing plans to keep Voldemort at bay, and protecting Harry. He was an old man who was kind enough to throw away that rest for the sake of a scared, selfish boy who hadn't even thought of Dumbledore before barging into his room at two in the morning.

"…what do you think we should do?" Harry asked, phrasing his wording carefully.

Dumbledore frowned, and fixed the angle of his half moon glasses. "Do, Harry? Well…for now, you will go get your forty winks, and I will ponder it a bit more. I'm sorry, but that is all I can…"

"No, that's more than I could ask for," cut in Harry hastily. "You should get some sleep too, professor…I'm sorry for running in like that in the middle of the night. You must be tired."

Dumbledore merely chortled and waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, you needn't worry about this old man, Harry. I get my rest, whether you run into my room yelling about Lord Voldemort or not. Now, I believe you have a full school day tomorrow?"

Harry stood up. "Yeah…thank you, professor. I'll try not to disturb you late at night so much."

"Not at all, Harry. You make sure that you come to me whenever you have a dream. Good night."

"Good night, sir." Harry left, and Dumbledore heaved a deep sigh. He walked over to his fireplace, waved his wand at it, and said clearly, 'Minerva McGonagall." Then he stuck his head into the green flames.

McGonagall was in her nightgown, asleep in the sole comfortable armchair in her office. Dumbledore had expected her to have fallen asleep somewhere after her night's patrol, but hadn't expected it to be in her office. She must have been very tired…Dumbledore had, admittedly, been running the members of the Order of the Phoenix too hard lately. It was imperative that they got more information on Voldemort's new allies, but rest was important too.

Just as Dumbledore was about to leave her be and go back to bed himself, McGonagall spoke. "Is something the matter, Albus?" She asked hoarsely, straightening up a bit.

"Oh…I apologize for waking you, Minerva, but Harry had another dream."

"So soon into the school year…?" McGonagall murmured, fixing up her hair to an almost presentable state. "What was it about?"

Dumbledore briefly outlined the dream Harry had explained about, and added in his thoughts on it as well. "If someone is sending dreams to Harry, we will have to be certain that that someone is on our side. If not, we will have to ask Harry to take up Occlumency again."

"So we have a Legilimens with the Sight sending visions to Harry. What could that mean?" wondered McGonagall out loud.

Dumbledore shrugged as best as he could while his shoulders couldn't be seen. "Nobody knows but the Legilimens themselves, and perhaps a higher deity."

"The question is, should we inform Professor Kurama or not? This is clearly out of our hands, and he has the right to know about his death…and perhaps attempt to do something about it…" Seeing that Dumbledore was slowly shaking his head, McGonagall paused, seemingly puzzled. "Why not, Albus…? Surely you don't intend to keep such an important thing from the man!"

"That is precisely what I intend to do, Minerva," said Dumbledore firmly. "At least, until we are certain about this…vision. Knowledge of one's own death is enough to drive any normal man insane."

Luckily, the silverhead standing directly outside Minerva McGonagall's office door, listening in on this conversation, wasn't a normal man at all.


	4. Chapter Seven and Eight

Chapter Seven: First Day; Combat with Yusuke, Defense with Kurama

Morning dawned bright and early the next day, much to Harry's annoyance. He had managed to get seven hours' worth of sleep, and thought he could have at least been given another half an hour or so before he had to get up again.

He somehow managed to drag himself down to the Great Hall, where Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and a quarter of Gryffindor were already eating. It was the same as usual…not many Gryffindors were early risers.

Plopping down next to Hermione at the table, Harry mumbled a greeting. The bushy haired girl pushed over a glass of orange juice, and Harry chugged it down gladly, the vitamin C giving him a bit more energy.

"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked briskly, buttering a slice of toast.

"I couldn't get him up…we had a rough night."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "You'll have to tell me all about it later. We're going to the library during break…I still haven't looked up either Reikai or Makai."

Harry groaned, and almost let his head drop into his breakfast. "But Hermione…" He whined pitifully. He brightened up slightly when Ron trudged into the Hall, one of the last to arrive. "Morning, Ron."

Ron grumbled a reply and plopped down next to Harry. "When's McGonagall gonna come around with our timetables?"

At that precise moment, said lady walked up behind them.

"I'd appreciate you adding 'professor' to my name when referring to me, Mr. Weasley." McGonagall said sharply, and Ron jumped guiltily.

Harry was cleared to attend the classes required for an auror's certification, as was Ron. Hermione had a slightly different schedule, due to her different ambitions, but the first little bit was the same.

All three of them had Potions, Combat, and then Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Hey, awesome, we have both Yusuke and Uncle Kurama this morning! Though having Snape will be a drag…" Harry muttered. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I'm sure he won't be any worse than usual…"

"Famous last words," declared Hermione as they walked away from Potions. "That was the worst Potions session ever."

"Yeah…he isn't very happy at having his Head of House status taken over by a newbie, is he?" sniggered Ron happily. As long as Snape was in discomfort, he was gleeful.

Snape had, at the beginning, been like a lit bomb, ready to go at any time. He wrote up the instructions without so much as a beginning of the year greeting, and then had sat at his desk, giving the room an atmosphere like the inside of a thunder storm. Then Harry had somehow succeeded in blowing up one of the blast ended skrewt fire acid pods, and Snape had blown his top. He had ranted about mishandling of equipment and supplies, and then had gone on to talk about arrogant, cocky fools who didn't know their places in the world. Somehow, by then, most of the class knew that he wasn't just talking about Harry.

"Still, that look on his face was awesome." Ron laughed.

"Oh, Ron…" Hermione clicked her tongue, as if Ron had disappointed her severely. The redhead gave her an innocent look that read 'I didn't do anything wrong'.

Harry smiled along with Hermione. "Look on the bright side; at least we have Yusuke now." They stopped in front of the classroom which McGonagall had directed them to when showing them their timetables. The sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins were, once again, having classes together.

"I'm so glad you think having class with me is a 'bright side'." Yusuke's voice said from behind them, startling a majority of the class. He was dressed in jeans, a white, loose tank-top and a pair of sneakers. All in all, it was incredibly muggle clothing, and some of the Slytherins were having a hard time not laughing or jeering.

"Get in the classroom," ordered Yusuke, and the class obliged, filing in neatly. The classroom was the same as any other, with rows of desks, a blackboard, and a teacher's desk in the corner. Yusuke eyed the entire setup distastefully. "How am I supposed to teach combat in this, damn it?" He muttered. He cast his eyes about, until they landed on Hermione.

"He's looking at you, Mione…" Ron muttered into Hermione's ear. "He'd better not be checking you out…"

If Yusuke heard, he ignored the comment. "You, yes you!" He barked impatiently. "I mean the smart looking one with the bush-like hair. I want you to show me if you can switch this room into something resembling a gym. I presume you know what a gym is? Yes? Good."

"But that's really complicated magic! I need to know how to create a dimensional flux within a certain area, and…" Hermione trailed off, noticing the look Yusuke was giving her.

"Look, can you do it or not? Cause if you can't, I need to go call Kurama."

Hermione gulped. "I can do it." She stepped forward, took out her wand, and murmured a quick spell. The entire room around them shifted and changed, into a large, much more spacey room with darkly coloured walls and foam padding on the floors. Yusuke looked at the padding like he had never seen such a ridiculous thing before.

"You can get rid of the padding…we won't need it." Hermione obliged, and the padding disappeared, to reveal a wooden floor. Yusuke grinned. "Now that's more like it! This is exactly what I wanted! Okay, boys and girls, first things are first." He took a deep breath. "The name's Yusuke Urameshi, age 23. I grew up in Japan, lived there for most of my life, and then went abroad for a little while. My parents are dead from old age, I'm married to the new assistant healer, I'm best friends with Professor Kurama and Hiei, and I've had sex only once in my life. I also did not use a condom during that time, so I don't know what size I am. Does anyone have a question?" Yusuke glanced around, and saw no raised hands, just some severe blushes and a few nice views of the insides of the students' mouths. "All righty then, we can get started as soon as Hiei gets his a…"

"That's enough chatter, Yusuke." A new voice snapped. Hiei appeared out of nowhere and sat down on a magically conjured stool. "I came, like you asked, so now what?"

"Hey, great, you made it!" Yusuke broke off and beamed at Hiei. "Awesome! Okay, students! This is Hiei Jaganshi, Head of Guard here at Hogwarts, general annoying bastard and kick-ass martial artist that can give me a run for my money. He's gonna help me occasionally, cause I don't know squat about teaching a bunch of inexperienced brats. Yes, I'm talking about you. Not that Hiei has any expertise in this area either, but oh well…"

Yusuke tapped his chin, thoughtful for a moment. Then he glanced at Hiei. "You don't think I can just copy everything Genkai made me do, right?"

Hiei raised one eyebrow. "Are you here to teach them or to kill them?"

"Good point. One last thing, kids! Beware that both me and Hiei have extremely short tempers, and we punish severely. So just keep your head down and do as your told, and ta-da! You're sure to make it out of the class without too many broken bones!" Yusuke stared at the wizards' and witches' attire closely. "Uh, by the way, when you're coming to combat class, you'll need to be wearing something similar to what I am. None of those dress looking thingies you call robes. I want comfortable pants you can run in, and a shirt you'll be able to sweat in without too much discomfort. Oh, and running shoes too, preferably. If you don't wear something of your own choice, then I have a horrendous pink outfit Botan used to go jogging in that I'll make you wear." Yusuke coughed in a fist. "Damn, all this talk is making me thirsty…for today's lesson, you guys are going to pick a partner, and have fun POUNDING THEIR FACES IN!"

That received several hang-jawed stares.

"Yeah, you heard me right. This is an all out brawl! I need to see what you guys are capable of…and I can't judge that just by getting you to do simple punches at nothing but air. No wands, except for your hands and fists. No biting, no pulling hair, and no hitting in the…tender spots. I'll give you thirty seconds to pick a partner."

Harry immediately seized Ron, and Hermione decided to go with Neville. Meanwhile, Crabbe and Goyle had paired up, and Malfoy was with Blaise Zabini. Yusuke separated a few partners because he judged a few too be too unevenly matched, but most of them he left be.

"Okay, you have fifteen minutes. At the end of it, I'll decide on your mark for today and tell you it next class. If you break anything, don't move; you might puncture something. Your partner is to jog over to me and tell me what they think broke and how they broke it, and I'll write that down so that I know your partner's level of skill. Of course, my wife should be along in a few minutes…ah, there she is…" Yukina walked into the room, and sat down in a corner with her legs tucked underneath her. "I don't want any of you kids within three metres of her for safety reasons. Your safety, not hers…I'll pound anyone that so much as gives her a scratch. She's here to heal you, so be grateful…Remember! The harder you hit, the more likely it is you're gonna break something, and the more you break something, the higher your mark! Ready, set…FIGHT!"

At first, nobody punched or kicked very hard, but then they started getting into the mood of it. Crabbe broke Goyle's nose, while Goyle broke Crabbe's shoulder. Both took turns running up to Yusuke and getting compliments from the teacher. Yukina took to hovering around them the most, so that she could step in as soon as Yusuke gave the signal to.

Hiei walked around and gave quietly growled tips on where to hit, where not to hit. One of his suggestions made Neville turn green, and Hermione looked mildly disgusted.

"I can't rip out his tonsils…!" protested Hermione.

"Yes you can; all you need to do is be quick enough to reach down his throat while he has that humongous mouth of his open. Yusuke said no biting, so he can't bite your arm off."

"No, I meant that I won't! That's horrible!"

"It'll earn you a really high grade, but do whatever you want…Yukina's here to heal if you do decide to."

Yukina, overhearing, waved cheerily. She obviously didn't know their subject matter.

By the end of the lesson, everybody had experienced many broken bones. Neville suffered a cracked cheekbone from Hermione, and Hermione received a broken finger. They were the ones with the least heavy injuries. Crabbe and Goyle were sporting bruises, scratches, and broken bones untold. Harry had managed to break Ron's arm by twisting it at an odd fashion, and Ron had landed a hard blow on Harry's stomach that broke a rib. Even Malfoy had a broken toe and a sprained ankle…and Zabini had broken several ribs. Yukina, after Yusuke was done recording the extent of the injuries inflicted on the students by their partners, went around healing every single one of them, and she handed out bottles of water for them to drink.

Yusuke looked down at his watch. "Well, it looks like we still have another thirty minutes before the bell. I'll dismiss you all for now, and you can go wash that sweat off of your bodies…you have Kurama next, and he's not such a big fan of sweat 'n' blood. Am I forgetting anything, Hiei? Cause I can swear there was one more thing…"

"The demonstration," reminded Hiei.

"Oh, right!" Yusuke snapped his fingers. "You're so smart Hiei…I wish I had half your memory…tell you what, students! Hiei and I are going to give you all a demonstration of what you guys could be able to do after a few years of proper training and practice…and maybe a toned down version by the end of this year. Watch us carefully…or really, see if you can keep your eyes on us."

Malfoy snorted. "Oh please, your movements can't be that fast…"

Yusuke grinned wolfishly. Malfoy quailed, remembering the platform incident. "Oh, believe me, they are. Are you ready Hiei?" Not waiting for a nod, Yusuke dove forward at such a speed that he almost winked out of view. Hiei defended just as quickly. Soon, they were nothing but a blur of movement. They had, of course, slowed down a good thirty times so that the students would be able to see them…and also so that that the students wouldn't accuse them of doing feats not humanly possible…but nobody in the room but Yusuke, Hiei and Yukina knew that.

"Holy crap…" Ron gulped. "That's freaking insanity!" There were a few mutters of amazed agreement.

Yusuke's voice, not even slightly strained or tired sounding, floated out from the blur that was Yusuke and Hiei. "We're going too fast for your untrained eyes to properly detect, but just let me tell you that I will probably w…HOLY MOTHER OF A…DAMN IT, HIEI! THAT'S CHEATING!"

There was a loud clang, and the blur stopped being a blur. Both Hiei and Yusuke showed up clearly. Yusuke was on his back on the floor, glaring up at Hiei, who was sitting on the half-demon's stomach with a sword pressed against Yusuke's neck.

"As I was saying, if Hiei hadn't decided to bring his stupid sword out, I had the advantage and was about to win, but as he did bring out his katana, I lost miserably. When did you get that thing back? I thought Kurama took it away." Yusuke pouted unhappily.

"I got sick of groping around for my sword and then not finding it there, so I stole it back." Hiei responded, standing up and sheathing the katana. "It's time for me to do a patrol, though I doubt I'll find anything…"

"Yeah, see you later Hiei. Class dismissed!" Yusuke waved the entire class out. "Oh, by the way, thanks for changing up the room for me, Miss Granger. I'll give you extra credit for that."

"My pleasure," said a flustered Hermione.

The sixth years left the classroom talking about the lesson. Some were still complaining about the pain, some were saying that Yusuke was a whacko and shouldn't be authorized for teaching and others were exclaiming loudly that it had been the best lesson ever. Harry was somewhere in the middle.

"What kind of teacher gets his students to break each others' bones for an assessment?" Harry muttered. "I always knew Yusuke was out of it…but not this out of it…but then again, it was fun, too…and none of us have permanent scars or anything…"

By the time the entire class had finished cleaning up and had lined up in front of the DADA classroom, the bell had gone. The Gryffindors were, as usual, with the Slytherins for Defense.

Unlike with Yusuke, they didn't have to wait long. Botan appeared a minute or so after the bell, smiling brightly. That day, she was dressed in dark gray robes with a light blue lining. Her hair had been twisted into a bun at the back of her head.

"Good morning, class! Come on in, Kurama should be along in a bit…" Botan ushered them all into the classroom. It was set up differently from what they were used to. It was larger, for one, and the desks only took up about a quarter of the room. The rest of the room was pretty much bare, with thin foam matting and various tables with different kinds of furniture (such as lamps, glass tanks, and small cages) on them around the room. There was a chest of drawers in a corner, which seemed to serve no real purpose but decoration. In fact, the entire room looked like it was just pretty, not practical. There was a blackboard and a teacher's desk, of course, but there was also a door at the side, which led to God-knows-where. Slowly, the class filed in and sat at their chosen desks; Slytherins on one side, Gryffindors on the other.

Botan didn't look happy with the arrangement, but let it slide. She walked up to the front, where one teacher's desk and a blackboard were located. She flicked her wand at a piece of chalk, and the chalk floated up, writing six words up on the board.

Professor Botan Reikai.

Professor Youko Kurama.

Botan glanced over at Kurama, who was sitting at the teacher's desk as if he had been there the entire time. Just like at the Beginning of the Year Banquet, nobody had seen or heard him enter.

"As today's the first day of lessons, Kurama and I will introduce ourselves fully, and then go over our expectations of you, as well as the three terms' study topics and our grading methods. I'm sure Yusuke…Professor Urameshi…has already given you all an extremely inappropriate introduction." There were a few sniggers as the class remembered the little bit of info Yusuke had given them about himself. Botan continued. "I think I'll start. My name is Botan Reikai, and I'm your Defense Against the Dark Arts Assistant Professor. Just because I'm an assistant doesn't mean I'm not your teacher, so beware that I'm allowed to discipline misbehaving students, just like any other teacher in the school." Botan looked pointedly at the Slytherins as she said this.

"I'm twenty three, like Professor Urameshi, and married to Professor Kurama. I'm not going to go too far into my personal life, but I can tell you that I don't like students who pick their noses." Botan announced calmly. "Since he doesn't seem too inclined to introduce himself, I'll introduce Kurama to you. I refer to him as Kurama, since he's my husband, but you'll have to call him Professor Kurama. He's twenty four, and has a more than harsh way of disciplining. If you thought Professor Urameshi was bad, then you're sadly mistaken." Botan tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Yes, my and my husband's last names are different. I didn't wish to change mine upon marriage, so we left it at that. I call him Kurama instead of Youko because Youko is more of a title…Kurama is his name. You can still call him Professor Kurama though…you don't need to bother with his actual last name. Kurama, do you want to say the rest?"

Kurama didn't even stand up from his desk. "This year, my classes will be pairing up often with Professor Urameshi's sixth year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws for practice sessions. Since you are all learning hand-to-hand combat, I thought I might teach you some defensive and a few offensive spells you can couple together with physical attacks. You'll also find that during Professor Urameshi's classes, your class my pair up with my sixth year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Since we are two separate subjects, we will be getting you to do different exercises, but teamwork will be essential." He paused, his emerald eyes slowly fixing on the Gryffindor side of the room, and then the Slytherin side. "You will decide on your own partners, but I expect you all to make wise decisions. If I find you goofing off in class, the consequences will be a week's worth of detentions with Hiei. I will be teaching you about advanced magic, so fooling around will be extremely dangerous.

"We will spend the first half of this term reviewing some of the measures against magical creatures which should have been covered over the last five years of your education…but weren't, except for during your third year. The next half will be focused on defensive and offensive spells. We will have obstacle courses, all out fighting sessions with Professor Urameshi's class, and a variety of different ways to test your spells and knowledge. The second term will be spent mostly with Professor Urameshi's class…and we will focus on dueling, so that you can use your new spells learned during the first term. Finally, the third term, we will be spending time in the Forbidden Forest for lessons, doing obstacle filled mazes, and review. If we have time left over, we will also be fortifying the castle's defenses. This is something I am only allowing the sixth and seventh years to do." Kurama ignored the puzzled sounding mutters.

Ron leaned over to Harry. "Hey…I thought Hogwarts was the safest place in the world…how can a bunch of students' spells help?"

"To answer your question, Mr. Weasley, I've found several blind spots both inside and outside Hogwarts. They are not very obvious, so I do not wish to disturb the staff with them, but there are too many for me to just ignore. I can't possibly do it by myself, so I am enlisting your help. If your defense is strong and well thought out, then you will receive a high mark." Kurama said, somehow hearing Ron's whispered comment from the front of the room. "I will have end of the term tests, of course. The first term will be an underground maze of caves, the second term will be an obstacle course, and the third term will be a duel against Professor Reikai, Hiei, Professor Urameshi or I. Unlike Professor Urameshi, I do not want you to end up with broken bones, so please pay attention in class." Kurama brushed away his hair from his face. "It seems we still have twenty minutes…In that case…" Kurama stood up, picking up his wand from the desktop. "Please spread out across the room with your wands in hand."

Everyone in the class quickly did so, curious what Kurama had planned.

"I wish to see some sort of magical display from you all for my assessment. As long as it is not something which will harm another severely, it is allowed. Bat Boogey Hexes; I'm afraid, I will have to say as a no-go. A young lady in the fifth year cast that on her classmate, and that classmate wasn't too happy about it."

Harry grinned widely. He knew who that fifth year was. Ginny Weasley, Master of the Bat Boogey Hex.

"Any spell you think is worthy! Go ahead!" Kurama nodded.

Hermione raised her wand and said loudly; "Avis!" A flock of birds streamed out from the tip of her wand, and fluttered around the room dismally for a bit before slowly turning into mist. All around the room, people were casting spells. Ron decided on 'Wingardium Leviosa', and levitated most of the desks in the room. Malfoy had chosen 'Locomotor Motis', locking Goyle's legs together and rendering him incapable of moving. Harry didn't know what to cast. He wanted to impress his uncle, but he didn't want people to think he was showing off…

Deciding, Harry raised his wand and said, "Expecto Patronum!" As expected, the silver stag burst out of his wand and galloped soundlessly around the room once, nuzzling Kurama once before disappearing. Kurama gave Harry an amused smile and nodded, showing his appreciation of the spell.

Kurama waved his wand, and firecrackers exploded from its tip. Everyone ceased their spells, a few of them hastily muttering some counter spells which released their victims from spells cast on them.

"As expected from a sixth year class, this was a most impressive and varied display. From tomorrow on, I expect you all to be ready for some encounters with beasts, such as kelpies, boggarts, and grindylows. It is five minutes early, but class is dismissed. If you have any questions, my office is right inside that door there." Kurama nodded towards the door Harry had noticed as he walked in. "Have a good afternoon."

Hiei appeared in a blur next to Kurama once the last student had exited the classroom. Kurama had obviously already sensed Hiei's energy, and didn't seem at all surprised.

"It's lunchtime, Hiei. You should go eat," suggested Kurama.

"I know, but I won't. You go eat; I'll take care of that human relation of yours and his friends. They're going to the library after they're done their food to look up Reikai and Makai, aren't they?"

Kurama glanced up sharply. "You can't harm them, Hiei…but if you can somehow divert their attention from us, even by feeding them false information, then I would appreciate it. Keep as close to the truth as possible."

Hiei snorted. "Yeah, sure…I'll see you tonight on the rooftop. I've already spoken to Yukina and Yusuke; just make sure Botan comes."

A smile flickered over Kurama's face. "Ah, I see…you have something you wish to talk to us about. All right then, we'll meet you there." The silverhead walked out of the room.

Hiei also flickered out of sight.

Meanwhile, the Golden Trio was digging into their lunches. Ron was going at such a pace that he kept on choking on the things harder to chew, and several times, Hermione ended up having to cast 'Anapneo' on him. In fact, most of those who had been in Yusuke's class that day were shoveling food down their gullets. The girls were eating with only a slightly slower pace than the boys.

"Harry, Ron, come meet me in the library when you're done," commanded Hermione, standing up and picking up her book bag.

Ron let out a whining sound in protest. He couldn't say anything because of the food in his mouth. Harry somehow managed to choke down his own food, and said, "What, already? It's the first day of school, Hermione…and I'm bushed!"

"Oh, stop your whining! I already told you yesterday evening that we're going to the library, remember? It looks like you two are finished…come on!" Hermione seized both Harry and Ron's hands and dragged them out of the Great Hall.

Up at the staff table, Kurama watched them exit with amusement. Hermione and Ron's relationship reminded him of how Yusuke and Keiko's had been back during the Dark Tournament. It was the stages during which love began to show, but neither party was willing to make the first move.

Dumbledore leaned over to Kurama, his eyes twinkling. "They are quite the interesting three, are they not?"

Kurama smiled. "It's nice to see Harry getting along so well with his friends."

"Yes," agreed Dumbledore. The twinkled faded from his eyes suddenly. "Professor Kurama…would you please come to my office directly after dinner tonight?"

Kurama raised his eyebrows inquiringly. "Is there a problem, professor?"

"No, I just wished to speak to you about…some things…" Dumbledore replied, his words halting. "It is something of grave importance…I am calling a staff meeting, actually."

"I understand…I will be there." Kurama replied, agreeing.

At the library, Harry, Hermione and Ron weren't having much luck finding any information on Reikai nor Makai. There wasn't a single mention of them in the countless thesauruses they had searched in.

Hiei, behind a bookshelf, watched them closely. He was waiting for one of them to pick up a particular book, so that he could cast a spell which would satisfy their curiosity for now. Hermione's hand reached towards the book in question, and Hiei quickly shot an invisible spell at it. The book glowed for the merest fraction of a second, and then returned to its original colour of muddy brown.

"Magical Communities and Countries Over the World…this one sounds promising," said Hermione, flipping to the book's table of contents. Her eyes lit up. "I think I just found it! The information is on pages 232 and 233…" Hermione quickly turned to that page, and showed Ron page 232. There, at the top of the page in thick block letters, it said 'REIKAI'. There was the kanji for Reikai directly under the page title, and several paragraphs' worth of information.

The information was, of course, false. There hadn't even been pages titled 'Reikai' or 'Makai' in that book until Hiei's spell had connected with it. Every single thing on those pages was close to the truth, but far away enough that Hermione would never figure out the actual facts.

Hermione began reading aloud from the page. "Reikai, direct translation is 'Spirit World'. It is a country hidden by magic in Asia, directly beside Japan. Half of Reikai is inside the Ring of Fire, but earthquakes are prevented through use of magic. Reikai is ruled by King Enma Daioh Jr. It recently went through a civil war, during which the King, Enma Daioh Sr., was thrown out of power. It is divided into a variety of several different sections."

"It says here that a good majority of the population consists of witches and wizards, and the few existing muggles are aware of magic's existence. That's amazing…are there really countries like that?" Harry asked, amazed.

"Well…I didn't know up till now, but it seems there are," confessed Hermione. She read on. "Reikai is governed first by their royal family, and then by the nobles. Nobles are trained to fly using oars from childhood, and generally wear the Japanese styled 'kimonos'. Oh, look! It says here that the origins of Reikai's name come from the king's right hand, a female noble whose surname was 'Reikai'. The king took that surname and used it as their country name to show his trust for his right hand…For centuries, Reikai warred with Makai, but recently a peace treaty has been signed and all is at peace."

"What does it say about Makai?" Ron questioned, pulling over the book. Ignoring Hermione's indignant protests, Ron began reading through the section of Makai. "Makai is a direct translation of 'Demon World'. It is a country directly beside Reikai the north most parts of Japan. Like Reikai, it's a community hidden by spells and enchantments, and is governed by almost no proper laws. It's a brutal country filled with bloodshed and war, with nothing to prevent the citizens from doing what they wish. There are no cities. Instead, Makai is divided into three different kingdoms; the kingdoms' names are unknown because the English wizarding community has not had contact with Makai for over five centuries. Each kingdom is ruled by a 'Lord', which is equivalent to a king. The three kingdoms' Lords were apparently fighting over the right to control all of Makai by themselves for centuries, and eventually Makai closed itself off from the rest of the world to focus on settling its own disputes. Makai didn't have any contact with the world, until the war with Reikai started. The war went on for centuries. Makai, which had become unstable after losing the three Lords of their three kingdoms all at once, united under one leader for a while, until three new Lords were appointed. These three Lords signed a peace treaty with Reikai, and peace treaties with one another to prevent any more war, and though there are still no laws governing Makai, it is at peace."

Harry let out a low whistle. "If Yusuke came from Makai, then no wonder his fighting skills are like that…Hiei, too."

"This explains a lot of things, I'd say!" announced Hermione excitedly. "Professor Reikai must be a descendant of the king's right hand man, and that's why she has that surname. That would mean she's a noble, and Professor Urameshi, Professor Kurama and Hiei…"

"…are bloody kings! They're kings!" shrieked Ron in realization. "Harry, you're related to a king and a noble! That's freaking amazing!"

Harry blinked. "I knew they were 'lords', but I didn't know it was something so important…I mean, nowadays, 'lord' is just a way of saying that they're descendants of some really old noble family…I should've paid more attention…now that I think about it, Uncle Kurama did say 'he had a country to run', a few times…this must be what he meant!"

"The three of them are definitely the three new lords who brought on the peace in Makai. Would you think of that…and Mrs. Koorime-Urameshi must be a Queen…Hiei's sister and Professor Urameshi's wife." Hermione sounded dumbfounded. "I wonder if Professor Dumbledore knows…"

"He probably does. I mean…he knows everything!" Ron blurted.

While the three talked and unraveled (or at least, they thought they were unraveling) the mysteries surrounding Yusuke, Yukina, Kurama, Hiei and Botan, Hiei was busily sending the others the false explanation he had made up for their origins by telepathy.

"_As expected from Hiei…! That was a brilliant idea!"_ Yusuke cheered. He was obviously eating, since images of food kept on interrupting his thoughts.

"_Yes, very well done, Hiei. I suppose this little ordeal is over…ah, by the way Hiei, the Headmaster has called a staff meeting tonight. I presume that means you and Yukina as well. We will have to meet on the roof after that." _Kurama informed. _"Yusuke, Professor Dumbledore has already asked you, correct?"_

"_Yeah, he did, right after he asked you. He did say he wanted Yukina and Hiei there too, and would I kindly pass along the message."_

"_A meeting…I bet it's something about how they want us to join their Order."_ Hiei, who had been eavesdropping on that conversation the previous evening, sniggered.

"_Perhaps, but Dumbledore said he wouldn't ask us until Halloween. I'm thinking that it is something about Harry's dream yesterday night. It was a foolish mistake of me to lower the protection I have around Harry's mind, no matter for how flitting of a moment. I was otherwise distracted…" _Kurama's thoughts trailed off.

"_With Botan…?"_ asked Yusuke slyly.

Kurama chose not to answer that. _"I somehow find it difficult to believe that I would die from a few killing curses…it doesn't even matter that there were six of them. Harry's dream was incomplete. Dumbledore will not tell us about this dream outright, but I am certain that he will be asking us questions about it. He will probably want to know how that scene would play out. He will be frantically attempting to find out how Voldemort could invade this 'heavily fortified' school and 'kill' me..."_

Hiei sniggered._ "Well, that's easy. We can just lie."_

"_Yes, that should be the easiest way out. Considering we are all experienced in the art of yarns…none of us will give anything away. Or we could simply choose not to speak at all. Once it is decided that we are 'innocent', Dumbledore will undoubtedly dismiss us soon afterwards. We can all meet up on the roof after that."_ Kurama announced.

Hiei glanced back over at the Golden Trio. Hermione was talking.

"Oh, great…! If we don't hurry, we're going to be late for Herbology!" She exclaimed in horror. The brown haired girl snatched up her wand and hastily began putting the books they had taken out back with magic.

Harry gathered up their things. "Wow, time flew…and I'm still hungry…" Ron nodded sullenly, obviously agreeing to Harry's comment.

"You two are such babies. Come on!" Hermione half-ran out of the library, much to Madame Pince's annoyance. Ron and Harry followed a bit slower, dragging their feet.

"_Looks like they're leaving…I'll see you two during dinner,"_ declared Hiei.

"_Yes, that's fine. Could you check on Sirius for me? I haven't been able to all day."_ Kurama requested.

"_Fine…"_ With that, Hiei turned and followed the Golden Trio out the library doors.

Chapter Eight: First Move Made

Several hundred kilometres away from Hogwarts, a snake-like man sat in the middle of a dark room, slowly stroking the top of his snake's head. He was sickly pale and had narrow, slit-like eyes. Every aspect of him, in fact, resembled a snake in nature.

It was not often that Lord Voldemort was nervous. In fact, he hardly ever was. 'Nervous' wasn't even a part of his vocabulary anymore. However, that was exactly what he was feeling as he sat in the sole armchair in the room, his eyes flicking from shadow to shadow. He knew they were there in the shadows, watching him…but he could never be sure exactly where they could be crouching. Even when they spoke, their voices seemed to echo from all around the room.

These were beings that were, as much as he hated to admit it, beyond Voldemort's levels of power. Any one of them could kill Voldemort by simply flicking their finger. So it was darn right for Voldemort to be nervous. With just a single wrong word, or a single wrong action, it could all be over.

"What news is there, Voldemort?" The Dark Lord recognized the deep, baritone voice as belonging to one of the Super-S demons. His name was…Sorgan. He was the leader of the six demons called…almost reverently…'the Six' by the rest of the demons. Voldemort had only ever had dealings with these six Super-S class demons, and Sorgan was their leader…the strongest demon. He was also the one Voldemort ended up interacting with the most.

"There is…no news…" Voldemort forced his voice to remain steady and calm…just as always…

There was a low growl. "No news, he says…what shall we do with him, Sorgan? Shall we kill him…? Bite off that bony head of his…?" That voice, like a deep baritone and a high soprano speaking at once, belonged to Genji.

"Calm yourself, Genji…you will get your share of humans once the human world is in our grasp. Meanwhile…Kedon, what news do you bring?" Sorgan asked.

Voldemort relaxed a fraction of a bit. Among them all, Kedon was the only one who took on the form of a human. Voldemort had seen Kedon a few times…he was actually fairly pleasant, and wouldn't kill Voldemort for the smallest of reasons.

The deep, silk-like voice belonging to Kedon spoke. His words were few, but whenever he did speak, the entire room's atmosphere lightened drastically to an almost peaceful state. "The Three Lords are at Hogwarts, it seems."

There was a loud commotion at this. A loud roar, the shrill shriek that could easily have been mistaken for a banshee's cry, a hiss, a high, whining sound and a loud bird's shriek that had both a baritone to it and a shrill soprano.

Sorgan calmed first. "Silence…let Kedon talk."

Silence fell immediately, covering the room like a thick blanket.

"They are there to protect Harry Potter. It seems our Lord Kurama is a distant ancestor of Potter's. They are, no doubt, preparing the school for our attack, so that the humans can protect themselves even somewhat. It will not be easy with them there. They have the full backing of Reikai as well." Kedon's disembodied voice murmured. Voldemort managed to pinpoint him to directly in front of the Dark Lord, in the shadows cast by the fireplace.

"True…we will have to rethink our strategy." Genji muttered.

"Lord Voldemort," said Kedon. Voldemort jumped a bit. Kedon was the only one that bothered adding 'Lord' to the front of Voldemort's name. "Is it possible for you to send in a few of your troops?"

"What are you planning, Kedon?" An ear achingly shrill voice whispered. It was Mayu; the only female in the group of six Voldemort had dealings with. "Your genius mind is at work again, isn't it?"

Kedon's voice, when he responded, was smooth and not at all gloating. "Perhaps it is as you say…but here is what I propose. We will send in some of Lord Voldemort's troops with Yangfu. You are in charge of Yangfu, are you not, Ruko?"

"That isss sssso…what sssssshall I order him to do, Kedon?" If a snake could talk in the human tongue, it would undoubtedly have sounded somewhat like Ruko's speech.

"Please tell Yangfu to gather twenty dementors, a giant, and as many Death Eaters as he pleases…and he is to storm Hogwarts Castle." Kedon requested calmly. "He will die in the process, of course…"

"Then what issss the point?" demanded Ruko curiously. "Yangfu issss a valuable warrior…it will do not to wasssste him on sssssomething assssss ssssssimple assss a dissssplay for amussssement."

"I do not send troops into battle for amusement, Ruko. Please hear the rest of the plan." Kedon said politely. "Yangfu is only a distraction. While he is rampaging, we will get his twin, Yingfan, to lead a group of fifty parasites and two dementors into the Chamber of Secrets located inside Hogwarts. If she is able to get that far without detection, then I shall meet her down in the Chamber."

A whining, petering voice said, "But Kedon…as a member of the Six, we will need you when the time comes. If you happen to be struck down…"

"I assure you that will not happen, Hitsuka." Kedon replied.

"Surely you can tell us your plan, Kedon. We are comrades." Sorgan prompted.

If possible, the room seemed to grow even darker, and the temperature dropped to an almost freezing rate. Kedon voice, as pleasant as always, said, "I'd appreciate it if you did not doubt me, Sorgan. By the end of the month, I promise you that…as long as Yingfan makes it with all the parasites; we will have most of Potter's close friends and several of the staff under our control."

There was a low murmur of approval. Voldemort felt his chest constrict with anxiety. Were these demons really so powerful…that they could do something which Voldemort hadn't been able to accomplish, despite all his efforts?

"Ruko…please order Yangfu to attack in two weeks from now. I will be waiting for Yingfan in the Chamber of Secrets when the time comes." Even Voldemort felt Kedon's presence disappear. The demon was like that. He would disappear and appear very randomly in that strange way of his. It wasn't apparition, and he certainly didn't just walk out…but Voldemort couldn't figure out how Kedon disappeared like that, and he wasn't too inclined to asking the other five demons.

It seemed that as soon as Kedon had left, four of the remaining five had gone as well. Sorgan was the only one there. There was a low rumble. "I hope your men will not make this mission a failure, Voldemort."

Then Sorgan was gone as well.

"What am I, a child?" Sirius fumed. He was sitting on Kurama's bed, looking like a pouting…well…child. "I'm older than you people, for God's…okay, maybe not, but I look older than you people! Why do you have to check on me? Why do you have to set rules and a curfew for me? Why can't you leave me alone?"

Hiei grunted irately. "Because, you slobbering mongrel, the moment it's found out you're still alive, Koenma will tan Botan's hide, and if he does that, Kurama will tan his hide, and Yusuke will have to prevent Kurama from murdering Koenma…it'll be chaotic. Still, I will make an exception for you today. You should come with us to the staff meeting. It may benefit you."

Sirius looked considerably happier at the thought. "Yeah…I haven't been out of this damn room since we got here! I'd give anything to be able to go about…even as a fox."

So it was with Sirius in tow that Hiei showed up at the staff meeting. Sirius, in his black fox form, was perched on Hiei's shoulder, glancing about nervously at the various staff members present in Dumbledore's office. Obviously, Sirius was wondering if anyone would recognize him.

Kurama was sitting in one of the chairs closest to the window, with Yusuke on one side of him and an empty spot for Hiei on the other. Yukina was sitting beside the empty seat, and Botan was sitting beside Yusuke. Everyone was sitting against either the wall with the window in it or the wall opposing it. Dumbledore sat behind his desk, which was set in such a position that he could see every staff member's face clearly.

"Thank you for joining us, Mr. Jaganshi," greeted Dumbledore warmly. He waved his wand, and a small container traveled in front of the teachers. "Lemon drop, anyone? No? In that case, we will get started immediately." His wizened features changed into a serious expression. "I have called this meeting today because of a dream Harry Potter had last night."

At this, there was a change in the atmosphere. Several eyes glanced uncomfortably towards Kurama…those were the few who had been told about this particular dream. The rest of the teachers seemed to know what Harry Potter's dreams usually brought on, and looked anxious.

"I can not speak of the contents of this dream, as it is an extremely personal topic, but if this dream is to be believed, then Hogwarts will be facing an attack sometime this year." Dumbledore dropped the bomb. The teachers and the aurors guarding the school (who had also been invited to the meeting) began murmuring in shock. Dumbledore cleared his throat, wanting silence. "Lord Voldemort will attack with his entire force; when, I can not be certain. Does anyone…" Blue eyes strayed over to where the demons were sitting, "perhaps know anything that we could use to defend ourselves?"

"I was under the impression," Professor Sprout spoke up, "that Professor Kurama and Professor Botan were getting our sixth and seventh years to go around the school patching up our few weak spots."

Yusuke almost laughed out loud. There were more than 'a few' weak spots…and the weak spots were probably larger than Koenma's big screen television. One hit in one of the bigger ones, and the school could very easily collapse.

"Err, yes, that's what we were planning on…" Botan admitted. "But that was only if we had time left over after our main lessons. For extra marks…"

"That is a fine idea. From now on, we will have to organize tight patrols and strengthen our defenses." Dumbledore announced gravelly. "Severus, Minerva, and Kurama…I presume it is all right to call you informally…I would appreciate it if you would take the first patrol, which will start tomorrow evening. I need all three of you going around at once; we do not know what could happen in the time one of you is at the other side of the castle. If you can, while doing that, also cast some spells that would keep Lord Voldemort and his followers out, then please do so. The next night's patrols shall be Pomona, Filius and Hiei. The third night will be Aurora, Septima, and Bathsheba. The fourth night shall be Hagrid, Charity and Rolanda. The fifth night's patrols will be Yusuke, Botan, and I. Then the cycle will repeat. If any of us are unable to patrol our nights, then we shall ask Poppy, Yukina, or Filch to fill in for us. I will set up an alarm system around the school, which will be activated with a particular password, so that if we do find anything we are prepared."

There was a low murmur of agreement from the teachers. Lupin raised a hand tentatively, as if he were in class. Dumbledore glanced over at him, and the werewolf spoke.

"What about those of us who are here to protect the school at your request, Albus? You did not mention any of the aurors in your patrol list, or me."

"I'm glad you asked, Remus. As you recall, at the beginning of the year, I told you all that Hiei is in charge. You have all been listening to his orders, correct?"

Moody rolled his one real eye. "He hasn't been giving us any bloody orders, nor has he even spoken to one of us. You're expecting us to 'listen to his orders' when he doesn't give us any?"

Dumbledore glanced over at Hiei, troubled. "I appointed you as Head of the Guards for a reason, Hiei…"

Hiei looked up and glared at Dumbledore coolly. "That was your choice, not mine. They have been reporting in to me regularly, and I have been listening to and carefully going through their reports. What else do you want me to do?"

"Organizing us into patrols and telling us what to do in case of emergency, maybe?" Moody snapped. "Actually doing something about the problems we speak about in our reports, maybe? Using our reports to make Hogwarts a safer place, maybe?"

Hiei raised an eyebrow. "I have been doing all of that, fool. I have been taking all the patrol shifts, except for a few, which I entrusted to Yusuke or Kurama. It will make no difference if I tell you what do in an emergency; you will all most likely stand and fight, so telling you to 'vacate immediately' would just be a waste of breath. The problems you have reported to me have all been taken care of between Kurama and I. That is an example of my using your reports to make Hogwarts a safer place."

Moody looked like he was about to explode. "Why you…"

Dumbledore coughed politely. "If we could get back to the matter at hand, gentlemen…if what Alastor tells me is true, Hiei, then I'd appreciate it if you put in a little more effort to your job. There are others who are here for the same reason as you, and would appreciate some way to help. Now…since Hiei is the Head of Guard, I am going to entrust the organization of you fine aurors to him. Remus, of course, you are not an auror…but you still fall under Hiei's command, as you are here to guard at my special request as well."

Hiei let out an annoyed sound. "Fine…All aurors will take shifts during the day, from five A.M. to seven P.M as teachers will be busy teaching the students. I will post up the order on Remus Lupin's room door tomorrow morning, so go take a look then."

"That's reasonable." Tonks murmured, patting Moody's arm to calm him down.

Dumbledore coughed once again. "That is all for now…have a good night." As one, the group of staff stood up and left the office.

Up on the roof, Kurama found the other four waiting for him patiently. He sat down on the roof's edge, letting his legs dangle down over the side. "So, Hiei, what is this meeting all about?"

Hiei scowled deeply, folding his arms. "Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Alastor Moody, and Minerva McGonagall have been following us around all day. I'm getting sick of it."

Kurama smiled fleetingly. "Yes, it is rather tiring. They are making sure our loyalties are with Harry Potter, not Voldemort, so that they will not be betrayed sometime after they ask us to join the Order."

Hiei twitched. "Well screw that! I wish I had thought quickly enough to totally erase the thought of trailing us from their minds…I was only fast enough to erase all thoughts of trailing just Botan…and God knows she's not any help, even if she's not being followed around."

Botan let out an offended noise. "You jerk!"

Yusuke yawned lazily, lying down on the rooftop. "If you're getting sick of it, why don't you just confront them and beat the living shit out of them? That should teach them a lesson."

"You should know by now, Yusuke, that violence doesn't solve everything." Kurama sighed exasperatedly.

Yusuke, when he next spoke, had a much harder tone than before. "So, what are we going to do about them? We're not just going to leave them to follow us around and maybe find out something, right?"

"That is not something we can risk." Hiei snapped. "But I can't remove the idea from their minds with my Jagan…manipulating that sort of memory may cause permanent damage."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but…isn't the answer simple?" Yukina asked politely. "We can just not get caught."

Silence…

"Then, there's that too," added Kurama wearily. "It seems we were over thinking it. If things get too bad, then I will talk to Professor Dumbledore about it, hang the questions which will undoubtedly arise."

"Well, what a simple solution…" Yusuke muttered sarcastically. "You called us out here for this, Hiei?"

"No. That was just a small matter I wished to address," Hiei retorted. His eyes narrowed dangerously. "The actual reason I 'called you out here', was because I can feel them moving."

"Moving?" repeated Botan quizzically.

"The demons who escaped Makai are all covering their energies, but it is a simple matter for my Jagan to track them down. I can feel them amassing…preparing. We can expect a small scale attack within a few weeks."

Kurama's brow furrowed. "Just a small scale…? I'm sure that they know we're here at Hogwarts. They must know we'd slaughter a small group within minutes. Even if it is a kamikaze mission to weaken us, I doubt they'd risk losing many of their numbers. After all…the only chance they have against us is if they come in a large group."

"That's why I'm worried," admitted Hiei, scowling. "Something feels off. Like…they think they can lose allies without any fear of defeat at a later date."

Yusuke scratched his chin thoughtfully. "You're right, that's really weird. You don't think they're launching some crazy mission they think might weaken us?"

Kurama shook his head, standing up. "I need to prepare for tomorrow's class. It's late; you might all want to retire for now."

"In other words, he wants to think on it, so leave him be for now," translated Botan knowingly, giving Yusuke a wink. She trailed behind Kurama as he left the roof, disappearing in a blur.

Soon, the three remaining demons left the rooftop as well, heading to their own, varied destinations.

Since the conversation on the roof, a week passed…then two…then three. It was nearing the end of September when Harry walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and found Hiei sitting at…or actually, standing on top of, the teacher's desk instead of Botan or Kurama.

So far in DADA, they had covered Grindylows, Kelpies, Fire Crabs, Ghouls, Boggarts and Kneazles. They had spent two to three classes on each, studying the counter-measures against every different type of creature. For the first time, Harry learned that Grindylows actually had three different types to them. The weed-like ones that lived in lakes, which could be dispersed using almost any kind of physical spell, the cloud-like ones which could only be chased away with a wind based spell, and the strange, squat, toad-like ones which, as far as Harry could tell, were almost harmless and could be left alone.

"Shut up and sit down, all of you!" barked Hiei, sounding beyond ticked. Without the usual accompanying chatter, the class took their seats, the same question going through all of their heads.

Hiei snorted. "Since you're all so eager to know, something came up that Kurama had to take care of. Botan is helping him. Therefore, I'm the substitute today." Without taking roll-call, Hiei blurred to in front of the chalkboard.

There were loud gasps and shouts of horror when Hiei wrote up, in his strange, spiky script, two words.

_Lord Voldemort._

"What's wrong with you all? Stop looking like you just saw Filch having tea and chatting about the weather with Peeves. I'll give thirty points to anyone that can manage to give me three not very commonly known facts about Lord Voldemort." Hiei tapped the board.

Nobody raised their hand.

"Pathetic," muttered Hiei disapprovingly. "Fine, I'll pick at random. Harry Potter, give me one."

Harry blanched. "U-Uhm…he's a mass murderer…"

"I said not very commonly known facts, not the most well known ones. Don't you have anything?"

Harry was annoyed with Hiei's tone. "His real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle!"

A satisfied smirk crossed Hiei's face. "Good." He flicked his wand and the chalk wrote up on its own; 'Tom Marvolo Riddle'. "What do you know, Malfoy?"

Malfoy twitched. "There's no way I'm…"

"Ten points from Slytherin. Still refusing?" demanded Hiei, crossing his arms.

"He used to be called a genius while he was here at Hogwarts," muttered Malfoy irately.

The chalk wrote up a single word this time; 'genius'.

Hiei looked around for a moment, and seeing the lack of hands, glared. "How about I supply you mute imbeciles with one more? Voldemort's mother was a pureblood witch named Merope Gaunt, but his father was a muggle who was spelled into false 'love' by Merope Gaunt. In other words…" The chalk did its own little thing again, and wrote up 'Half Blood'.

There was silence once again.

"Merlin," breathed Neville in surprise.

It was the sound of Hiei's open palms smashing into Botan's desktop that jolted most of the class back to reality. "Today, we're going to be tracing back some of Voldemort's history and a few minor facts about him. I don't care if you don't want to participate. Kurama originally wanted me to cover werewolves with you, but I thought this would be more beneficial. After all…why call this Defense Against the Dark Arts if we're not defending against the darkest thing out there?"

Okay, maybe not…demons were a hell of a lot darker, but oh well.

Hiei glared around the classroom, waiting for any objections to the lesson, and after receiving none, he sat down in the teacher's chair. "Go to that side counter over there and grab one of the textbooks." Hiei waved his hand lazily at the side counter in question. "And then flip to page 519. We're reading about Horcruxes."

Halfway into the lesson, during which the entire class was uncomfortable, Hiei was annoyed, and Harry was just plain confused, Hiei broke off in mid sentence. "…and the soul is…" He paused, a strange expression on his face. "…the Hell…?"

"Hiei…?" Harry asked quietly. When there was no response, Harry stood up and slowly began to approach Hiei, who was motionless.

"_Don't come near me,_" snarled Hiei abruptly. Harry drew back, surprised. Hiei growled and let out a stream of vulgar swear words. "Why today, damn it…!"

"What's wrong?" questioned Ron. "Having 'that time of the month'?"

"Ron!" admonished Hermione in shock.

Just then, Yusuke burst into the classroom, bringing the atmosphere of a harsh lightning storm with him. He looked like he had just come running from his own class, as he still had a piece of chalk in one hand. "Hiei, do you…"

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Yusuke. I have a headache without having to listen to your blathering," growled Hiei in response. He glowered over at the ogling students. "Class dismissed. Go to your Common Rooms."

The class, murmuring in confusion, stood up and began gathering up their things.

"Where's Kurama?" Hiei demanded.

"He went to Makai with Botan, remember?"

Hiei slammed a fist down on a nearby desk. "Why did he have to go today of all days…?"

"Uhm…because…Jin blew up half the kingdom…?" Yusuke said, frowning.

Hiei gave the half-breed a glare. "You know what I mean."

Yusuke's facial expression utterly changed as he grew more serious. "So, how many?"

Hiei shook his head. "I can sense one higher A among them, but the rest are inconsequential."

"Parasites, humans and other weird creatures…" muttered Yusuke. "Great…just what we need. So what do you we do? We don't have Kurama, and we have a castle-full of kids to guard."

"Hardly all kids, Yusuke. What about Dumbledore?"

"Yeah, well, he's still younger than me, so I consider him a kid." Yusuke paused. "Wait, we're getting off topic. So what do we do?"

"They're only just approaching the castle…they're not even past the Forbidden Forest yet. We should go intercept them…right now."

Of course, all of this was said in Japanese, so that the few remaining in the classroom couldn't understand. Hiei, noticing that there were still a few stragglers, glared menacingly at them. "What are you doing? Scram!"

After making certain the last of the students were well out, Hiei turned back to Yusuke. "You; you may want to go talk to Dumbledore. Tell him that…we set up special wards all around the grounds and we just felt some of them being breached by entities who are most definitely Death Eaters. There are also Dementors and a giant with them. Don't you dare say anything about the A-class demon," the fire demon warned.

Yusuke snorted. "Don't get all pissy at me, stupid. I know the drill." He disappeared in a quick blur.

Hiei started for the window, but then stopped in his tracks, a thoughtful expression going across his face. "Black…I know you're there. You've been listening in on the entire thing, haven't you? For now, go to Harry. In the unlikely event that some demons actually manage to sneak into the castle, you get to dispatch them. Koenma should have taught you a few things about spirit power, correct?"

The black fox jumped up from under the desk, looking guilty. It nodded its head.

"Get Aurum and Puu as well; tell Puu he is in charge of the Hufflepuff dorms, and Aurum is in charge of the Ravenclaw dorms. I daresay we won't need any one of you stationed at the Slytherin dorms?" Hiei sneered. "Yusuke and I will get rid of the intruders. In case you're wondering, we won't fail." In one single, swift movement, Hiei was gone, and the classroom window was ajar.

Dumbledore was just finishing up the last bits of a reply letter to a Ministry worker concerned about the education of their daughter, when Yusuke stormed into his office. The old man was beyond surprised. Usually, the gargoyle positioned at the bottom of the stairs leading up to his office sent up a message long before the visitor arrived up at the office.

"Hello Yusuke," said Dumbledore, attempting to cover up his surprise as much as possible. "This is quite a pleasant surprise. Sit down anywhere you please."

It was only then that one of the portraits behind Dumbledore sidled into his portrait, just arriving from the other portrait which had been hung at the bottom of the stairs beside the gargoyle. "Look smart, Albus, you have one of your teachers coming…up…" The portrait blinked at Yusuke. "Oh. He's already here."

Yusuke ignored the portrait and Dumbledore's request for him to sit. He marched straight up to the desk the old man was behind and leaned forward on it.

"Hey, Professor Dumbledore; we have Death Eaters, Dementors, and a giant coming our way through the forest. What do you want us to do?" Yusuke asked bluntly.

Taken aback, the headmaster slowly took off his spectacles and cleaned them carefully. Then he perched them back on the tip of his nose, looking troubled. "Really, Yusuke…? How do you know this?"

"What do you take us for? To prevent exactly this kind of thing, we set up wards around the entire school grounds. Me'n Hiei just felt some of the wards being breached. It's probably a small scale attack." Yusuke snapped. "Order all your students back to their common rooms, so that they'll be safe in case of complications."

Dumbledore frowned. He took out his wand, and murmured a few spells, doing a sweep of the entire school and the land around it. He let out a choked sound upon finding the Death Eaters. He hadn't expected Yusuke's story to be true. "Then we must do as you ask with Godspeed, mustn't we? I will send some of the teachers out…"

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Oh, put a cork in it. We've got it covered. For now, tell the rest of the staff to patrol and keep an eye out for any enemies that manage to sneak past us. Hiei's already come to intercept them; I should go help before he's putty on the floor." _…well…before he hogs the fight to himself, more like…_

Dumbledore rose to his feet. "…but…!"

"No buts, old man! See you!"

"Yusuke…!" Dumbledore hollered, but too late; the young man was already gone.

Hiei stared at the dead demon before him distastefully. It was a big, ugly demon…pitch black and ogre-like in appearance. The waves coming off of it indicated that it was a higher A-class demon…and yet, Hiei had killed it in a few seconds. On the forest floor around Hiei, several unconscious Death Eaters, chunks of giant body parts, and the ripped up robes of two dementors rested on the grass. (Dementors usually turned to dust when killed, leaving behind their black robes.) The entire fight had been over in minutes.

Yusuke appeared behind Hiei. "Yo…damn, you're done already. That's beyond stupid." He crouched down beside the A-class demon and wrinkled his nose. "Eww…talk about lack of hygiene…what did he say his name was?"

"What makes you think I know?" Hiei asked lazily, flicking blood off his katana.

"Well…you know the entire villain thing…they usually try to introduce themselves before starting the fight."

"I don't know. Yang…something, I think it was…I cut him in half and the rest came out in a sort of gurgle." Hiei rolled his eyes. "If I had to listen to the names of every demon I killed, then there would be no end to it."

Yusuke shuddered. "Yeesh, you're cold-blooded. It looks like it wasn't a major problem after all."

"Of course not," huffed Hiei. "If it was, then I would have called you for assistance." Hiei's superior expression faded. "What really concerns me is the reason they could have for attacking. There was only one demon, and an A-class at that. The humans, dementors and giant were of no help, and so that means the only actual opponent we had from the start is the demon. Yang…fu…I think…"

"Maybe they have a really crappy or cocky commander?" suggested Yusuke.

"No…Super-S class demons are usually fairly intelligent; or at least, to a point. Besides, our information says that the demons have rallied under the rules of four Super-S class demons. I doubt all four of them would be foolish enough…" Hiei shook his head. "I'll have to discuss this at length with Kurama. For now, let's go back to the castle."

"It seems you made it without running into any obstacles?"

"Yes, my lord. We only came into contact with one human. I assigned a parasite to him."

"Good thinking, Yangfan…you are different from your foolish brother. I hope you aren't holding it against me that he was just sent out to die?"

"No, sir…not at all…"

"In that case…why don't we start this little conquest? You've brought all the parasites available at the moment?"

"All of them except for five; Lord Sorgan wished to keep them behind in case of an unexpected complication in our plans."

"…Sorgan did…?"

"I apologize for not doing precisely as you instructed."

"No, it's a matter I need to take up with Sorgan. Yangfan…I'm going to give you the authority to command all the parasites assembled here right now. I need to go back to the manor before Hitsuka starts hyperventilating because of my absence…but…"

"…you say 'but', my lord?"

"No, it's nothing. Proceed as planned for now, and I will give you a message if they are altered in any way. Do you remember all the students I want under our control?"

"…yes sir. However…you never quite told me much to do with the teaching staff. I don't quite understand…you only said one of the professors' names when you were briefing me."

"That's right…I only need one staff member on our side. He is the only human who has even the smallest chance of finding out about our little secrets."

"Also, my lord…you said that this was so that he could not do anything to put a hitch in our plans if Snape somehow manages to find out anything and tells him…but why not just get rid of Snape?"

"Because, Yangfan…Snape may be a factor in the little equation unfolding before us…and he can't do anything he does not have his own free will, no?"

"…I see…"

"Besides, this man will probably pose the most threat to us, beside the three Demon Lords."

"…but he's an old man…"

"Yes…but with age comes wisdom."

"I understand, sir. Albus Dumbledore will be within our grasp within 24 hours."

As the two slowly made their way up to the castle, Hiei suddenly paused in his tracks. Yusuke, noticing the absence of the other male beside him, also stopped and glanced behind him. "Hey, Hiei…? What's up?"

Hiei stared up at the sky, his brow furrowing. Abruptly, a harsh gale of wind blew past the two demons, blowing back the fall leaves around them on the ground. Yusuke continued staring at Hiei, beginning to wonder what was going through the fire demon's head.

Hiei finally spoke. "There goes that familiar old wind…'not a major problem' may be overly optimistic."


	5. Chapter Nine and Ten

Chapter Nine: One, two, three…seventy demons, there I see!

It was when Harry and the rest of the Gryffindors had almost reached the common room when Dumbledore's magically amplified voice boomed through the entire school, halting most of the ongoing lessons in their tracks. He sounded unusually serious.

"All students please make your ways to your common rooms. All staff please halt your lessons and head up to my office for a meeting. We have an emergency."

Harry shook his head. Hiei and Yusuke had been acting funny earlier as well. What was going on? Was it an attack? Had there been Dementor sightings?

The feeling of something jumping onto his shoulder knocked Harry out of his thoughts. He found Kurama's black fox…what was his name…? Oh yeah. Black was staring at the Sixth Year wizard almost reproachfully.

"Yeah, I'm going…" sighed Harry, continuing his walk to the common rooms. "You don't need to look like that."

"Mate, you're talking to a fox," said Ron, poking Harry. "It doesn't understand you."

"It's my uncle's…he's really intelligent." Harry muttered, remembering the many times over the summer when this particular fox had attempted to sneak into Harry's room. Harry, at the time, hadn't understood why Hiei got so annoyed when it attempted to get Harry's attention. In fact, Harry still didn't understand.

Ron shrugged. "Just make sure it's not an animagus in disguise…" He muttered, making a reference to his own 'pet', Scabbers. Or more accurately, Peter Pettigrew.

Reaching the common rooms and saying the password, (Tiddlefoot) the group all began chattering about the events. Harry, Hermione and Ron made their way to their most favoured spot beside one of the windows, and sat down for a good talk.

"Maybe someone in Snape's class blew something toxic up…" suggested Ron brightly. "Maybe they'll cancel all the lessons for the rest of today!"

Hermione let out a groan. "They can't do that! It's…"

Harry tuned out of his two friends' chat, choosing to stare out the window instead. Then, something moving on the grounds caught his eye. He squinted. Was that…yes it was…Hiei and Yusuke? What were they doing?

The answer to Harry's question was that they were arguing. Yelling at each in very loud voices.

The cause of their argument was actually fairly simple. Yusuke wanted to contact Koenma about this. Hiei wanted to stay quiet about it.

"We're not under his influence anymore, Yusuke…we don't need to go running to him every single time something happens…"

"Yeah, but it's Spirit World's business too, you know. Koenma has to keep up with everything…else he'd be a horrible ruler."

"Like how you've been? You've run off and left Shishiwakamaru with the paperwork so many times already…"

"Says the idiot who dumps everything on Mukuro all the time…"

"Don't you drag her into this, detective!"

"Oh, so it's detective now? What happened to the love?"

"It decided you were too idiotic to bother with and ran away."

"Oh hardy har-har, Hiei…like I haven't heard something similar to that a hundred times already. We'll leave it up to Kurama, then."

"Fine. Kurama."

Yusuke paused, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. "Hey, did you clean up the demon body parts?"

"I incinerated them," responded Hiei in a bored tone, flicking off some imaginary dust on his shirt sleeve.

"Good…cause there's Dumbledore and his entourage, and they all look like they want answers."

Said old man and 'entourage' halted in front of Yusuke and Hiei, each of them looking puzzled and nervous. Dumbledore glanced around, and said softly, "And the Death Eaters?"

"Around the middle of the Forbidden Forest, you'll find twenty-three Death Eaters, the remains of a giant's body, and a lot of blood. Please take care not to slip." Yusuke said with a yawn, stretching. "Hiei got all the action…and I think he was in a good mood, because he left them alive."

Hiei just let out a grunt of confirmation.

Dumbledore frowned, and looked over towards his left. "Severus…Minerva…Pomona…please go in and find all these Death Eaters. Then bring them back."

The three professors separated from the rest of the group, heading towards the forest quickly. Meanwhile, Dumbledore was giving out instructions to the remaining staff members.

"The rest of you please split into four groups and go check on the students…make sure that no stray Death Eaters managed to get in…thank you." As his entourage dispersed, Dumbledore turned back to Yusuke and Hiei. "I realize you two are not students, but considering the gravity of the situation…please come up to my office with me."

Minerva McGonagall was not an absolute rock, nor was she a frilly 'girly girl', who'd scream at just about a drop of blood. In fact, she could proudly and truthfully say that she was absolutely 'blood tolerable', if ever asked.

Of course, being tolerable of blood didn't mean she was tolerable of…well…

The scene of a massacre.

It wasn't that the Death Eaters had been massacred…in fact, each and every single one of them were still alive and fine, minus a few bruises and scrapes. It was the giant, however, that really terrified McGonagall. It had been totally annihilated. There was purple blood everywhere…on the soil, the trees…and little chunks of flesh. There was also the occasional organ or eyeball. McGonagall shuddered.

Snape looked just as appalled. "I have not seen such things even with the Dark Lord," he said darkly. "He brought down a giant to this state on his own…just what is he?"

"The students have told me that they believe Mr. Jaganshi to be somewhat sinister, but this is crossing the line…" McGonagall spluttered, her words failing her.

Sprout's chin was trembling. "It's almost as if he took out his anger on the non-human invaders so that he wouldn't kill the human ones." She picked up a blood-soaked dementor cloak. It sagged in her hand forlornly.

Snape's lip curled as his foot accidentally touched one of the giants' eyeballs. He recoiled backwards, and said clearly, "We will need to tell this to Albus."

"Of course, Severus…" said McGonagall, her voice at a whisper. "Of course…"

"Could you please explain what exactly transpired?" asked Dumbledore calmly, twiddling his thumbs absently as he spoke. He was sitting behind his desk, with both Yusuke and Hiei glaring at him from chairs across from him.

"Hiei, just tell him." Yusuke grumbled, annoyed. Mentally, he added, _'But briefly…you know the drill…'_

'_Shut up, Yusuke…' _Hiei let out a grunt. "I felt one of our wards being breached, and a quick spell told me the nature of the trespassers. Yusuke had already sensed it, and he came running down. We split up; he went to inform you, and I went to dispatch the Death Eaters. When I got there, they were slowly making their way on foot to the castle, trying not to be noticed. I knocked all the Death Eaters unconscious and got rid of the giant and dementors with them. Yusuke arrived after that…and after making certain all the Death Eaters were out cold, we started coming up to the castle. You met us around there."

Dumbledore stroked his chin. Inwardly, he was frowning. It made sense; in fact, there was a 95% chance that Hiei was telling the truth…but the remaining five percent really nagged at the old man. Something just felt…off.

"Kurama…asked for a day's leave, didn't he…" he muttered to himself as he thought things through.

Yusuke snorted. "Yeah, a certain idiot redhead created a commotion." He rolled his eyes. "I can't believe Kurama decided to leave Jin, of all people, in charge…"

"Remember, he had Tooya," reminded Hiei in a bored tone, flicking a speck of dust off his shirt.

"Yeah…sure. Idiot ice controller who's smart, but will let Jin do whatever."

Dumbledore drew himself out of his thoughts as his office doors flew open with a bang. Sprout, McGonagall and Snape all marched in, each of them looking rather paler than usual and grim.

"Ah, how was it?" asked Dumbledore, leaning forward a bit.

"We have all the Death Eaters locked up in one of the empty classrooms. We found traces of a giant, dementors, and the Death Eaters…only the Death Eaters were still alive." Snape reported, his eyes straying down to Hiei. He shuddered slightly, and continued. "…the giant was in…pieces…and the dementors were…dead."

Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up. Dead dementors? How was that possible? In all his years as a wizard, the old man had never once seen a dementor's death. There was no spell in history that could do that. Repel, yes, with the patronus, but nothing more serious than that.

"Could I see your wand for a moment, Hiei?" asked Dumbledore in his most serious tone of voice. Hiei glared. Dumbledore was taken aback. Not even Tom Riddle had…glared…at him when he was using this tone of voice.

"Oh, come on Hiei…just hand the stupid wand over," sighed Yusuke. Hiei didn't budge. Instead, he turned his glare on Yusuke.

'…_he wants to check what spell my wand did last.'_

'_The fuck? So what? Let him!'_

'_Idiot…the last spell I did was that silencing charm I used on __you__.'_

'………_oh………right. There's no way you could have defeated a dementor with that. More than that, why the hell would you even bother silencing a dementor? They're so silent already that it's creepy…'_

'_You're not any help.' _Reluctantly, Hiei handed his wand over.

"What the…" Snape spluttered, spotting the red and black wand. "Albus…that…you!" He rounded on Hiei, eyes wide. "What the hell's that wand made out of?"

"It's a combination of gold, steel, and melted ruby. The core is made out of ice dragon tongue fibers, Asian Ying Dragon scale slivers, and my hair," grumbled Hiei, mostly reciting the word per word description Kurama had given him.

Snape's eyes bulged. "Albus…!"

"I seem to recall mentioning that some of our new staff have very peculiar wands. I was equally astonished when I first saw Kurama's wand…but it is all the better for us if the wands are powerful." Dumbledore smiled, albeit with a grim undertone. "The wand chooses the wizard…and a powerful wand would not choose an incompetent wizard."

Slowly snapping himself out of his daze, Snape took the wand gingerly and pointed his own wand at it. "Prior Incantato!" He hissed. Surprise flittered across his face when he came up with…not a patronus…but what he recognized as a silencing charm. The potions master swivelled around to glare at Hiei. "What is the meaning of this?"

Hiei snorted, rolling his eyes skyward. "I used a silencing spell on the Death Eaters when they began squirming around and screaming death threats at me."

"And you knocked them out again afterwards?" asked McGonagall.

"That's right."

The woman's eyes narrowed the slightest bit as she cast a suspicious look towards the 'guard', but Hiei successfully ignored it. Her so called 'glares' were nothing compared to Mukuro's. Now there was someone who could really glare.

"Did you two land yourselves in trouble again?" The mildly amused, silky voice surprised all four humans in the room into jumping a good few centimetres into the air. Yusuke and Hiei had long ago felt Kurama and Botan approaching, and were unfazed.

"Yo, Kurama. Back already?" Yusuke asked, yawning and stretching. "That was fast. How's Jin?"

"I had a word with him," responded Kurama evenly. "What's going on here?"

"We had an attack." It was Hiei that cut into the conversation and answered. He gave a meaningful glance at the fox.

Kurama nodded. "I see. Did you get rid of them?"

"Yeah."

"Then what's the problem here?"

"Hiei killed the dementors," Yusuke complained, glaring at the fire demon. "Like…_killed_ killed."

Kurama's eyebrows shot up outwardly in a show of surprise, but his words over their telekinetic link to Hiei were quite different.

'_Oh really, Hiei? Was that so wise?'_

'_Oh, screw that, fox. I'll do what I please, and I'm not going to leave those damn half-breed traitors alive if I happen to come across them.'_

'_Half breed traitors, you call them, and yet Yusuke is also a half-breed. You can be so crude with your language sometimes.'_

'…_Yusuke's not a traitor.'_

'_You can't technically call dementors traitors. After all, we're siding with humans as well.'_

'_Not homicidal humans intent on murder and world domination.'_

Kurama seemed to give up, since he leaned against the wall and looked thoughtful instead of pressing the matter. Then he spoke aloud. "Professor Dumbledore…is, perhaps, the extermination of dementors a crime?"

Dumbledore looked startled. "A crime? Well, since it has never been done before, there are no laws dealing with such…but during the era where Lord Voldemort (Sprout was the only one in the room who flinched at the name) is back, I should say no."

"In that case, wouldn't Hiei have just done you a favour? I don't see why you are all hounding him as if he has just done a severe wrong." Kurama said casually.

Snape cut in there. "Yes, but Mr. Jaganshi just vaporized several dementors, which should not be possible. The last spell he used was a silencing charm, which tells us nothing. We need to know if he is a danger or not."

"If that's what you wanted to know, then you could've just asked from the beginning," yawned Yusuke. Even Kurama seemed mildly surprised at the half-demon's interruption.

'_Don't land us in even more shit, Yusuke!'_ barked Hiei telepathically.

'_I won't, damn it! Shut up for a sec!'_

"I'll let you people know that Hiei is dangerous, but only towards people who provoke him." Yusuke slouched down lower in his chair. "Actually, all three of us here are dangerous…and I think you guys…witches, wizards, blah blah…are dangerous in your own rights. Since Hiei's on our side, it's no problem. You have your secrets, we have ours, and if you're gonna keep badgering us about it, then we'll have to presume you don't trust us, and we won't be happy. In that case, you might want to set up proper defences around the school, 'cause we sure as heck won't be pulling this kind of stunt again."

Snape's jaw dropped open.

Dumbledore, finding himself unable to come up with any questions which would not show their mistrust of the three (unknown to the wizards) demons, sighed and leaned back a bit. "If you put it like that, we have no choice but to leave it be. Next time, please remember that leaping out on your own is not the smartest of ideas."

Yusuke shrugged, and Hiei glowered.

"You're going to get yourself in a lot more trouble than that if you keep at this," warned Kurama exasperatedly. The three were walking back to their rooms. All the lessons had been cancelled for the next day, and they therefore had nothing to do.

"I covered as best as I could, you know," grumbled Yusuke, shrugging. "It's not like they'll fire us right off, anyway."

Hiei grunted. "I'd like to be fired. Then I could stop dealing with annoying humans and just watch undetected from the sidelines."

Kurama sighed.

"By the way, Kurama, Hiei'n me were just having this argument…do you think Koenma should be notified of this?" asked Yusuke, giving Hiei a glare.

Kurama paused, looking thoughtful. "Come to think of it, it would be a good idea to keep him on top of information. If this turns into a large scale disaster, we don't want another situation like the Sensui catastrophe…and the week of notice."

Yusuke took on a smug, superior look. Hiei just glared and sulked…the two were almost like two fighting siblings, actually.

As the three continued on, they were all forced to stop one more time when all of their communicators started to ring loudly. With slight annoyance, Kurama dragged his two demon friends into an empty classroom, and then they answered Koenma's call.

"Yo, Toddler-Bitc-…whoa, what the hell happened to you…?" Yusuke asked in surprise, seeing the rather dishevelled, red state Koenma was in.

"Shut up Yusuke. This is important…there are various blips of demon energy all throughout your school right now. There are close to 60 in total, and are weak. They are most likely parasite demons…that have latched onto a host." Koenma informed them, attempting to keep as calm as possible. "…while you three weren't paying attention, a group of demons snuck into the very school you're supposed to be protecting, and have found homes with some of our wizard buddies."

Kurama looked towards Hiei. "Hiei?" he asked sharply; the question didn't even need to be spoken out loud.

Hiei grunted, and loosened his white headband. The faintest of purple glows could be seen from underneath the cloth. "…I hate to admit it, but Koenma is right. I can find 65 parasite demons, all throughout the school…and judging from their movement…it looks like most of them have already made themselves cozy inside a few of the students' and staffs' bodies." Hiei's scowl deepened. "Kurama, you know it's neigh impossible to remove an unwilling parasite demon from a host without killing the host."

"…unfortunately." Kurama sighed. "This is beginning to get annoying. Before we do anything else, we need to find out all sixty-five hosts who have a demon within them."

Yusuke let out a low groan. "Oh c'mon…can't we just deal with them as we see them?"

Hiei snorted and folded his arms. "No."

Koenma, who had been waving his arms around on the screen attempting to get the three demons' attentions, let out a yell of frustration.

"Yes, Koenma?" Kurama asked coolly.

"We're working on finding out the unfortunate humans who ended up with a parasite demon, but I can give you a list of twenty five so far. Are you listening?" Koenma asked, picking up a piece of paper off his unusually cluttered desk.

Then he began to list off the names.

"Hannah Abbot, Euan Abercrombie, Stewert Ackerly, Marcus Belby, Eleanor Branstone, Lavender Brown, Eddie Carmichael, Emma Dobbs, Justin Finch-Fletchey…what a stupid name…ahem…Seamus Finnigan, Victoria Frobisher, Anthony Goldstein, Geoffrey Hooper, Morag MacDougal, Ernie MacMillan, Natalie McDonald, Eloise Midgen, Dean Thomas…oh crud, you're not going to like this one…" Koenma paled.

Yusuke looked at the small screen suspiciously. "Who?"

"Ron. Ron Weasley."

Kurama let in a sharp intake of breath. "Harry's best friend?"

"Appears so…and I've got more bad news. In fact, the rest are all…" Koenma skimmed through the page.

"What, Koenma? Tell us!" demanded Hiei.

"Fine, fine. Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, George Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Cho Chang…and…" Koenma drew a deep breath. "Albus Dumbledore."

Yusuke swore loudly.

"Dumbledore. DUMBLEDORE! How are we supposed to do anything if the headmaster's not on our side?" demanded Yusuke hotly, pacing back and forth between the isles of desks angrily. He slammed a fist in one of the desks, and it was reduced to small dust particles.

"It was no doubt the enemy's intention." Kurama murmured. He was sitting in his desk, thinking. Hiei stood against the far wall, still and no doubt pondering the same problem.

"I was surprised that all the staff members weren't taken as hosts," Hiei said, drumming his fingers on a desk surface.

Yusuke let out a short, barking laugh. "For all we know, that could be the case too. That was only twenty five of the sixty five we need to be hunting out. It's not even half." He let out a snarl. "Fuck this all!"

"Calm down, Yusuke. The first thing we need to do is figure out the other forty who are under the parasite demons' control. We can work from there. Hiei, could you go around with an invisibility spell and figure out who's been taken as hosts? You're much faster than Yusuke or I, so it shouldn't even take that long."

Hiei looked like he had just sucked a very sour lemon. "Damn it, why do you always stick the annoying jobs on me?" He disappeared, not even waiting for Kurama's answer.

"I'll get together with Yukina and try to figure out a way to extract the parasites. Yusuke…our top priority is getting Ron Weasley and Albus Dumbledore back…but we need to make sure the parasites in them don't make a big mess of things with one word." Kurama said grimly. Yusuke gave him a confused look, and Kurama sighed. "Think about it. If Dumbledore decided to suddenly start competing against Scrimgeour for position as the Minister of Magic? Or what if he ordered the entire Order of the Phoenix to attack the Riddle Manor?"

Yusuke's lip twisted. "I see your point. If that happened, Harry would jump in and try to persuade 'Dumbledore' to let him help in the attack…"

"…and Dumbledore being under a parasite's influence would no doubt agree." Kurama, looking annoyed, stood and headed towards the door.

"So I should keep an eye on Dumbledore and Ron. Great, exactly what I've been hoping…babysitting duty." Grumbling Yusuke disappeared out the open window just as Kurama seized the door and wrenched it open, strutting out himself.

It took Hiei almost three days to gather up all sixty-five names. Koenma had nailed most of the important hosts, and the rest were all random people of absolutely no consequence. Yusuke enlisted the help of Botan in trailing both Dumbledore and Ron Weasley…but neither of them did anything dangerous.

Kurama and Yukina were having little success in finding a way to extract a demon parasite without killing its host. It was highly unlikely that the demon would remove itself willingly, threatened or not.

Harry found his best friend's behaviour over the course of the next few days most unsettling. Ron had become too quiet, and never once did he joke around. When asked what the matter was, the redhead would answer that nothing was wrong.

It creeped Harry out.

"Oh Harry, he could have just matured," said Hermione with a shrug. "I don't find it that strange."

"Hermione, he walked into the washroom and he came out all quiet!" Harry said, waving his hands around wildly. "You think a trip to the bathroom matured him?!"

"It's not like we can be certain that…"

"Oh yes we can! Trust me, it's men's gut instinct." Harry growled. Then Hermione refused to say anything further on the topic, and Harry was forced to drop it.

Yusuke, meanwhile, had been high-strung for a while now. He disliked the idea of having enemies' parasite demons so close by, and he disliked the idea of having to teach them even more. So it came as no surprise to Kurama when the former delinquent suddenly stormed into the silverhead's DADA class one day.

Kurama was in the middle of teaching the class about Banshees, with Botan chiming in here and there. He looked up and gave Yusuke an annoyed look. "I'm teaching, Yusuke…as, I believe, you should be."

"I don't give a FUCK what you're doing right now…if I have to spent another FUCKING second in the presence of another one of those…things, I'm gonna FUCKING go FUCKING NUTS. YOU HEAR ME, FOX-BOY? IF I HAVE TO FREAKING TELL ANOTHER ONE OF THEM 'NO, YOU MAY NOT EAT YOUR PARTNER'S ARM', I'M GONNA CALL UP MUKURO AND YOMI AND WHATEVER AND I'M GONNA ASK THEM TO DO A FREAKING EXTERMINATION OF THE ENTIRE FREAKING SCHOOL!" shrieked Yusuke. He had started off eerily calm in the beginning, and as his speech went on, his voice steadily rose in volume and anger, until he was full on screaming into Kurama's face.

The students, meanwhile, were gaping at their Combat professor's use of profanity. Hermione, especially, looked astonished. (Like her image of teachers had been shattered. Then again, Yusuke hadn't qualified from the start.)

"Calm down Yusuke. We have children in the room right now. If you must scream, go scream at Hiei or ask him for a spar."

What is commonly called a 'tick' appeared on Yusuke's head. "Tell you what…I'm gonna run over to Reikai and spend half an hour screaming at the Toddler-Bitch. While I'm at it, I oughta strangle him for not doing his job properly…" muttering darkly, Yusuke stomped out again.

Kurama pursed his lips. "As I was saying…banshees…"

True to his word, Yusuke did jog on over to the Spirit World. (His class sat there in the classroom, wondering where their professor had suddenly stomped off to. Justin had only meant that 'eating arm' comment as a joke.)

"OI! TODDLER BITCH!" Yusuke yelled, kicking in the door. He then skidded to a halt, his eyes growing to the size of saucers.

Koenma looked up. His face was pale, with streaks of blood. He rolled over and scrambled up as best as he could with a half torn off leg, and tried a feeble attempt at a smile. "Yusuke."

"Koenma?! What the hell happened here?!" Yusuke quickly rushed to the god's aid, ploughing through the piles of paper and rubble. He picked Koenma up carefully, mindful of his injured leg, and lay him down carefully on the only semi-all right piece of furniture in the room; the desk.

"Yusuke…they got it."

"What the fuck are you talking about? What's 'it'?"

"The Spirit Energy Amplifier. In the right person's hands…it can amplify spirit energy to such a point where even your entire little team down at Hogwarts combined won't be able to take them down. We're doomed." Koenma coughed, wincing as more muscles in his leg tore. "Warn…the others."

Yusuke was panicking. "W-What do I do with you, Koenma? Shouldn't I get Yukina or someone…? Somebody's gotta be around here that has healing powers…"

Koenma grimaced. "They're all dead." He them promptly passed out, leaving no more room for Yusuke to ask questions.

The Demon Lord stood up. Grabbing Koenma's small body back off the desk, he quickly used a strip of the no-longer-intact sofa to semi-bandage up Koenma's leg, and disappeared in a wild sprint, disappearing from the visible spectrum and heading for all he was worth back towards the Human World…and Hogwarts.

Sorgan stared down at the tiny ring in his clawed hand, looking thoughtful. It had taken much preparation and risk, but the ultimate weapon was finally in his grasp. Of course…he couldn't use it. The Amplifier was not meant for demon spirit energies, or even that of a human kind. It accepted holy energy only.

Sorgan smirked, his brain doing an inner connect the dots with lightning speed. He knew of a group of humans…a family, actually…who had latent holy energy.

Finally, some of Voldemort's followers would come in handy.

"You have some sort of particularly devious plan cooking up, Sorgan?"

Sorgan immediately recognized Kedon's half amused, half curious voice. The demon turned around, and stared at Kedon. "What sort of plan is required? It is destroy, kill, destroy…there is no planning about such things."

"Yet brainless killing would have gotten us killed long ago, without planning." Kedon looked down at the Amplifier…and a smile quirked his lips. Sorgan disapproved whole-heartedly over Kedon's human form…but sometimes, smiles such as that coming from a human mouth was enough to spook even the most powerful of demons. "Ah, now I see. Which one will you use? The father…or the son? Both are equally simple to influence."

"The son," responded Sorgan sullenly, knowing that Kedon had already figured it all out.

"A wise choice…I suppose. I shall inform Lord Voldemort. This could work very well coupled with my little parasite stunt." Kedon's energy disappeared from the room, only to reappear seconds later in the room Voldemort used as his lounge.

Sorgan fingered the Amplifier again. He was loathe to give it to some human, lest the human get killed and lose it…but the demon had not fought through the entirety of the Spirit Defence Force, all the ogres, and then ripped up Enma Jr., just for a little keepsake. He intended on using the Amplifier…and using it soon.

The only obstacle in their way…the three Demon Lords…would soon be dealt with.

"I wonder where he is," Yukina murmured softly, staring around the Great Hall anxiously. It was already dinnertime, and there was still no sign of Yusuke.

Botan patted the smaller girl's arm. "Don't worry, Yukina; I'm sure he'll show up in a few…ah, that's him right now," she announced gleefully, sensing Yusuke's spirit energy appearing somewhere near the middle of the Forbidden Forest.

Hiei looked up. "He's moving at almost half his maximum speed. He'll be here in a second." His eyes narrowed. "Something's wrong."

As expected, the Great Hall doors were half blasted open right then, showering everyone with dust and bits of door. Most of the students ducked under their tables and screamed loudly.

"Y-YUKINA! KURAMA!" Yusuke yelled through the commotion. "Get over here now!"

Kurama and Yukina gave each other looks, Yukina in confusion and Kurama in slow, dark understanding.

"DAMNIT, YOU TWO! GET OVER HERE OR KOENMA'S GONNA DIE!"

Kurama leapt up, his eyes wide with shock. "Koenma?" He pushed his seat away, and quickly sprinted (at normal human pace) through the cloud of dust still drifting in the air, with Yukina following.

"What happened?" demanded Kurama, pulling Yusuke along by the sleeve into the nearest empty classroom.

"I don't know, I walked into his office and it was demolished…he was talking about some sort of Spirit Energy Amplification device. Hey…you think you can fix his leg?" Yusuke asked, panicking, turning towards Yukina the way a child would towards their mother.

His wife's face was drawn and grim. "I will try my best," she murmured, leaning down and getting to work.

"A spirit energy amplifier…it's true that with something like that, they might have a chance going against us…" Kurama looked frustrated. "…what do you want to do, Yusuke?"

Said former delinquent flapped his right hand at Kurama. "I don't freaking know! I was hoping you would…"

The two stopped talking as the glow of Yukina's healing process dyed away, and the red eyed demoness drew away. "I'm sorry, but I can't do anything else here…if we're going to heal, I need to be in the Makai, where my energy can reach it's full."

"We can all go…if this is true, we may have a bit of a problem on our hands."

Yusuke blinked, and then scowled. "What about…the students?"

Kurama grimaced. "As much as I hate to put them through this…we'll have to call in some substitutes."

"Substitutes?" repeated Yusuke, puzzled. Then an expression of understanding dawned. "Oh. Poor kids…"

Chapter Ten: When Castles Go BOOM!

With each passing day, Harry found Ron's behaviour more and more disconcerting and less and less Ron-like. Even Hermione had begun to look at him with some suspicion. He was too quiet…too submissive. He studied, he listened to Hermione's lectures, and he even read books voluntarily.

"I really find it weird," Harry told Hermione unhappily as they walked down to breakfast. It had been almost two weeks since Ron had walked into the bathroom and had come out minutes later a changed man. Ever since then, Ron had even begun avoiding them at times. It was after an unsuccessful 'Ron-search' that only two of them walked to the Great Hall together.

"Mm-hm," Hermione murmured. She was too distracted to really listen to Harry rant about Ron's behaviour again. For the past week, Kurama, Yusuke, Hiei, Botan, and even Yukina had been nowhere to be seen. Dumbledore had announced already that they had returned to their respective countries for a while due to an emergency, (which explained Yusuke breaking down the door in his panicked state) and that they would be back soon. Meanwhile, Dumbledore had asked a 'Horace Slughorn' to take up Potions for a while…and Snape had been given the DADA position temporarily. Combat had been cancelled, and things had gone on almost like the previous year. (Without Umbridge.)

Today was the day the 'substitute' professors that Yusuke and Co. had arranged for them were supposed to arrive. Finally, they could get away from an ill-tempered Snape.

That was part of the reason why Hermione was so distracted.

"I wonder what they'll be like," commented the bushy haired girl, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Knowing those guys, they'll all be really messed up and weird."

Hearing that from where he was carefully watching them, Sirius shook his head. Jesus Christ was his godchild right on the mark.

"How is he?"

Yukina, pale and tired, looked up from Koenma. "…he'll live. Kurama-san made a lot of antiseptics and painkillers. He's sleeping right now."

Yusuke sat down heavily on the nearest chair, his eyes tired. "…the entire palace was ransacked and destroyed. Where the hell's King Enma when you need him?"

"He was probably away." Botan entered the room. She peered worriedly into Koenma's slack face. "What do you think, Yukina? Will he be able to use that leg ever again?"

"He'll limp," Yukina said sadly, "but there should be nothing to prevent him from actually using it. That's something to be thankful for."

"When'll he wake up?" Yusuke interrupted, his eyes trained on his former boss' childlike body.

Yukina glanced up, and saw the concern in her husband's red-brown eyes. "…probably not for a few days…the shock of having your leg ripped off like that is enough to kill someone. Where have onii-sama and Kurama-san gone?"

"They're trying to dig up some of the wreckage in Reikai. I think they're secretly looking for survivors, too."

The three lapsed into silence, each of them watching Koenma quietly. Then Botan piped up. "If you guys are at all worried about the amplifier, then you can console yourselves with the fact that the amplifier can amplify only holy energy. Like Sensui's…"

"There aren't as many humans with holy energy," said Yukina softly.

"Yeah, but why would they steal a Holy Energy Amplifier if they had nobody to use it on…?" Yusuke commented sarcastically. "We'll just presume they have someone in mind, and continue on like we're being faced with…I dunno…five times our current firepower."

"Actually, it's more like eight times more," corrected Botan. "Even counting in Jin, Touya, and the others…we still don't have enough energy to defeat someone using an amplifier. That amplifier is supposed to be infinite."

"Oh great, we're facing someone invincible now, huh? Why do you cracks even create something like an amplifier that's infinite? Why not something that only boosts energy to two times as much or something?"

Botan's upper lip twisted in defiance. "It's actually one of the Four Items of Balance. The other three are also called the 'Great Artefacts of Darkness'. You know them as the Shadow Sword, the Forlorn Hope, the Orb of…"

"Oh…those," muttered Yusuke. "Say no more, I understand."

Then they fell into silence once more, watching Koenma's irregular breathing pattern.

Koenma's gold-rimmed green eyes flickered over the mess of rubble. "Do you sense anything alive, Hiei?"

"Nothing with spirit energy," answered Hiei evenly, tying his bandanna around his Jagan again. "…but I can see the thoughts of one ogre. He's trapped under the rubble in Koenma's office, and he can't get out. He's been in that position for days."

Kurama nodded slowly. "We should go free him then."

"It's George," muttered Hiei.

"…ah, the blue ogre…"

"By the way Kurama…you sent them off today, didn't you?" Hiei asked, frowning.

"'Them'…? Oh." Kurama smiled slightly in amusement at Hiei's expression. "Yes, I felt slightly sorry for the students, but we really had nobody else…"

Hiei, with a grunt of grudging agreement, disappeared off the spot as he headed towards Koenma's ruined office. Chuckling, Kurama followed.

"Hermione, just because you keep on staring around doesn't mean they'll get here any sooner," Harry said, yawning as he buttered his toast.

Hermione blinked, her cup of juice sliding sideways just as she was about to take a sip. "What?"

"You seem really eager to know who the new teachers are."

Hermione laughed nervously. "Well…you know me…" She let out a high pitched, phoney laugh. Harry's frown deepened, but he decided not to push it. She would tell him what was up in time.

It was probably around then that a blur of blue, white, and red came sailing through the window which was usually used only as an entrance and exit for the morning post (i.e. the owls).

There were yells of surprise and a great deal of screaming as the blur crashed into the floor with a loud yelp.

"Oh my god, is that a person?" asked Hermione, hastily dropping her spoon and rushing up.

"Y-Yeah, I think it is," said Harry faintly, also getting up.

Several teachers from the staff table were cautiously making their way down towards the rather limp bundle of white and red, ready to grab for their wands at any time.

Then the bundle spoke.

"Aw, now that just wasn't jiffy…throwing a person through a window like that…" The bundle muttered. The red-haired man stumbled to his feet, brushing dust off of his robes. At the gaping humans around him, the queer visitor grinned. "Oh, hallo there, sorry for flying in like that, I forgot to break."

"Oh dear, a madman has made it into the school," Harry heard Parvati Patil mutter from somewhere beside him.

"A very cute madman," inputted Lavender Brown. There were a few murmurs of agreement from the Gryffindor girls in hearing range.

Then the rather shabbily repaired Great Hall doors opened, (Flitwick had been unable to completely fix the cracks that Yusuke had caused by breaking the entire door down.) and a cool, annoyed voice filled the hall. "You should've just hit the wall, Jin. The worst that could have happened was fracturing a rib."

'Jin' turned around, fixing his hair up a bit at the same time. "Chuu's throws aren't very well aimed, that they ain't. Whoooooooppppeee!!!" He made a wild motion with his hands.

The teal eyed young man twitched, apparently annoyed by Jin's eccentric display. "Try not to totally lose your dignity within five minutes of arriving, Jin."

Harry, meanwhile, was frowning in concentration, trying to remember where the name 'Jin' was familiar from. Jin…Jin…

Dumbledore, from up at the Staff table, cleared his throat noisily. "Students, these are your substitute teachers who will be replacing Professors Kurama, Urameshi, Reikai, Mr. Jaganshi, and Miss Urameshi. Professor Jin Shinobi, Touya Shinobi, Chuu Rum, and Shi…ah…wa…"

"Shishiwakamaru," sighed the young man at the back of the group. Harry wondered why they all had such funky hair colours.

Then it clicked. He knew all these names.

Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei's friends…the ones Yusuke had so many crazy stories about.

Oh god.

This entire thing was a mountain of trouble.

There was so much going on. The parasites, the attack on Reikai Palace, the demons escaping from the Makai, Harry's dream…

This was even worse than the Order of the Phoenix meetings Sirius had participated in up till a while ago. Before he had…died…

Sirius made a face.

"Died…haha…" He muttered, forgetting that he was in his fox form and couldn't speak out loud.

The concept was still a bit too absurd for Sirius to absorb. Sometimes, he wanted to believe all this was a damn dream, and he was snoozing in #12, Grimmauld Place's kitchen with Kreacher creeping just around the corner, jacking silverware and pots and god knows what else.

Of course, he wasn't asleep. He knew that the best of all. This was plain, hard reality, and in the middle of this twisted play, Sirius played a role.

What role, he wasn't quite sure yet.

When Kurama and Hiei found George the Ogre, he was half-unconscious and blubbering with fear. It seemed he had feared for his life, lest the attackers returned.

As Kurama helped George up and tried to soothe Koenma's assistant somehow, Hiei was monitoring the situation at Hogwarts with his Jagan. His reach with it had become profoundly large now.

"What the f…" Hiei began, frowning deeply. Then he felt something blocking his Jagan, shoving him away, and his entire body flew backwards, bashing into a nearby, crumbling wall.

Kurama looked up sharply, concern in his eyes. "Hiei?"

The Jagan user was fine, albeit the slightest tinge green. Kurama wasn't sure if it was because Hiei had accidentally begun to turn into his pure demon form, or if it was because he was feeling sick.

"Something's blocking my Jagan. It wouldn't let me through," said Hiei grimly, standing back up easily. He brushed some rubble off his coat. "I only got a few seconds' worth to assess the castle. We missed something major, Kurama…I can't believe this…"

Kurama slowly placed George down on a large pile of rubble. "…if it's something bad enough to make you react in that way, then obviously I need to hear what it is."

"The space underneath the school…the Chamber of Secrets," Hiei said evenly, putting his bandana back on. "There's a mid-A class demon there. I'm not sure what it's doing, but…"

"Why didn't we sense it?" demanded Kurama, his eyes narrowing.

"…I don't know." Hiei admitted reluctantly, sounding somewhat puzzled. It wasn't like him at all. "Should we go back? We need to get rid of it…it hasn't been doing anything so far, so that would mean it's going to act sometime in the future. We need to get rid of it or…"

"We can't go back until we hear precisely what happened from Koenma. A full-scale attack on Reikai is no small thing. They must have wanted that amplifier badly." Kurama drummed his right hand's fingers on his left arm. "We have too much happening, Hiei. We need to start eliminating some of the problems."

"It's only the middle of October. We've only been teaching for about a month and a half." Hiei grumbled. "We're already loaded down." His red eyes gleamed coldly. "All of us don't need to be here, right?"

"…we can spare Yusuke and Botan, and that's it. We need Yukina to heal Koenma, and we," Kurama stressed the 'we', indicating clearly he meant only Hiei and himself, "have a job to do."

"…you want to salvage some of the books from Reikai's Library?" Hiei guessed sarcastically.

"Actually, yes. But not just any books…" Kurama smiled. "I'll get started, why don't you bring George to where the others are?"

Hiei glared, but wrapped on arm around George's midriff and disappeared.

The substitute professors' rather sudden arrival had been a topic of conversation all throughout breakfast and lunch. It turned out that Chuu and Jin had been assigned to the Combat position temporarily, while Touya had DADA, and Shishi (nobody could properly pronounce his full name, whatever it was) would be rotating between aiding Madame Pomfrey and patrolling around.

Harry grimaced, remembering the spectacle which had occurred after the introductions during breakfast.

"_So, where's this Potter character Kurama says is his nephew?" Jin glanced around, stretching. He pinpointed Harry, gawking at the redhead. The white-clad substitute bounded over, ruffling Harry's hair. "Well, immediately noticeable! He has Kurama's eyes, that he does, from when Kurama was all-a-reddy like me, without the ears which pointy and whoopdeedoo, it's good to finally meet ya!"_

_Around there, Chuu had stumbled over. Everyone parted immediately, detecting the alcohol coming off in waves. "This the-hic-kid? Wow, scrawny…hallo mate, s'good to meet you. Chuu's my name, hope we can be good friends." Harry had noticed vaguely that Chuu was the only one, besides Botan, who had a proper English accent when he spoke._

"_Chuu, Jin, do you remember Kurama asking you two to __not__ totally embarrass yourselves in front of a large audience?" asked Touya cynically. "And Chuu, I told you to be __sober__ when we got here! This is a teaching institute!"_

"_Aw, don't be a spoilsport Touya. I'm just gonna-hic-go outside for a bit…me lunch wants to come back up and say hello…" Chuu muttered, stumbling out of the Great Hall doors. With a disgusted look, Shishi followed. Jin giggled and sailed after them, leaving Touya._

_The teal eyed man sighed._

What a beautiful morning.

"Potter, ya still awake?"

Harry jerked back to reality. He stared at Ron oddly. "Since when have you called me 'Potter', Ron?"

The redhead shrugged. "Since now? Our next class is with those fools Jin and Chuu. Let's go."

Fools?

Harry slowly followed after Ron. Hermione, who had been listening in, also seemed confused. She gave Harry a puzzled look. Harry shrugged back, shaking his head to show he didn't know what was up.

By the end of the day, the entirety of the school was battered and bruised. Several second year students sat sniffling at the Ravenclaw table, nursing bruises and cuts from their Combat class. Not only that, but the DADA class hadn't exactly been a joyride either.

Harry was sprawled out on the table near the pudding. He could seriously sympathize with the pudding now; it wasn't fun to feel like jelly all the time.

"That was horrible…" grumbled Harry, shifting so that he could look at Hermione properly. She was primly eating a few chips, seemingly unaffected by the day's workout. "Aren't you tired at all?"

"Of course I am!" Hermione seemed flustered, dropping a few chips onto her lap. "You're right, that was pretty bad. I wonder when Professor Kurama and Urameshi are getting back."

"First Ron, now you…what's up with you guys acting so freaking strange?" snapped Harry, poking Hermione in the arm. To his surprise, his friend yelped and snatched her arm up, massaging it tenderly. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Y-Yes! I'm going to bed early. Good night!" Hermione scrambled out of the Great Hall, unheeding of the look Harry was sending after her.


	6. Authors Note

Authors Note:

The first chapters for this fic are all Saint Sky's original work. It is excellent work and I felt no need to change anything. I will try and update soon but this has been a hectic summer. Hope to hear from all of you!

--Sarjhi


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